-f 


1 


THE  TRUE  ADVEN 
TURES   OF  A  PLAY 


BY  LOUIS  EVAN  SHIPMAN 

URBAN  DIALOGUES 

D'ARCY  OF  THE  GUARDS 

PREDICAMENTS 

THE  CURIOUS  COURTSHIP  OF  KATE  POINS 

THE  QUALITY  OF  YOUTH 


Plays 


D'ARCY  OF  THE  GUARDS 
ON  PAROLE 

THE  ADMIRAL 

THE  CRISIS 

THE  CROSSING 

JOHN  ERMINE  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE 

THE  GRAIN  OF  DUST 


HENRY  MILLER  AS 

MAJOR  D'ARCY 


THE 

TRUE  ADVENTURES 
OF  A  PLAY 


BY 
LOUIS   EVAN   SHIPMAN 


New  York  &  London 

MITCHELL  KENNERLEY 

1914 


COPYRIGHT    1914    BY 
MITCHELL  KENNERLEY 


TO  MY  FRIEND  HENRY  MILLER, 
BUT  FOR  WHOM  THE  SUPREME 
ADVENTURES  OF  THE  PLAY 
WOULD  NEVER  HAVE  COME 
TRUE. 


292265 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Henry  Miller  as  Major  D'Arcy    Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Costume  plate  68 

by  Henry  Ogden 

Costume  plate  80 

by  Henry  Ogden 

Henry  Miller  and  Miss  Florence  Rock 
well  in  "D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  98 

Costume  plate  122 

by  Percy  Macquoid,  R.  I. 

Sir  George  Alexander  as  Major  D'Arcy  124 

Programme  of  London  production          131 

Sir  George  Alexander  and  Miss  Evelyn 
D'Alloy  in  "D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  134 

Costume  plate  140 

by  Percy  Macquoid,  R.  I. 

Box  office  statement  of  receipts  for  a 
performance    of    "D'Arcy    of    the 
Guards"  at  the  Savoy  Theatre,  N.  Y.146 

Box  office  statement  of  receipts  for  a 
performance  of  "D'Arcy  of  the 
Guards"  at  the  St.  James  /Theatre, 
London  151 

"D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  in  stock  180 

"D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  in  the  movies  182 


A  LETTER  FROM  PROFESSOR  GEORGE  P.  BAKER 

My  dear  Shipman: 

Some  time  ago,  before  my  fire,  you  read 
to  a  group  of  my  students  "The  True  Ad 
ventures  of  a  Play"  The  interest  and 
pleasure  aroused  in  your  audience,  all  of 
them  embryo  playwrights,  have  made  me 
wish  to  see  the  manuscript  in  print.  Were 
we  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen 
tury,  that  time  of  sub-titles,  instead  of  the 
twentieth  century,  your  book  might  well 
be  given  the  sub-title  "A  Lesson  in  Pa 
tience"  Nearly  every  young  dramatist 
seems  to  believe  that  when  his  play  is  fin 
ished,  he  has  merely  to  present  his  manu 
script  to  some  play-placer  or  manager  to 
have  its  obvious  merit  immediately  recog 
nized.  He  is  perfectly  sure  that  if  these 
merits  are  so  recognized,  he  has  but  to  wait 

9 


OF  A  PLAY 

in  calmness  the  sure  production  of  Ms  play. 
This  little  book  will  show  him  what  patience, 
tact,  adaptability,  and  persistence  are  need 
ed  in  the  waiting  game  which  all  except  the 
most  fortunate  of  young  dramatists  must 
play.  Here  you  picture,  with  curiously  fair 
sense  of  perspective  toward  your  own  work, 
a  few  of  the  infinite  number  of  mischances 
and  complications  which  may  stand  between 
a  manuscript,  pleasing  to  actors  and  man 
agers,  and  its  ultimate  production.  It  may 
be  discouraging,  but  it  will  in  the  end  be 
helpful  for  many  of  your  readers  to  realize 
that  there  were  three  years  between  the  fin- 
ishing  of  your  manuscript  and  its  first  pro 
duction  in  this  country,  and  twelve  years 
between  the  writing  of  the  play  and  its  first 
production  in  London,  though  at  the  outset 
of  the  "Adventures"  D'Arcy  seemed  likely 
to  be  seen  in  London  earlier  than  in  New 
York. 

Yet  even  while  you  discourage  you  en 
courage.  Today  when  one  hears  so  much, 
just  or  unjust,  about  hasty  and  ill-consid 
ered  productions  of  plays,  it  is  a  pleasure 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  11 

to  read  your  words  of  appreciation  for  the 
production  of  "D'Arcy"  by  Henry  Miller 
and  Sir  George  Alexander.  Indeed,  though 
I  think  the  vicissitudes  of  your  play  may 
go  as  far  as  anything  can  toward  deterring  a 
young  dramatist  from  further  writing,  I 
suspect  this  result  will  be  entirely  offset  by 
the  evidence  in  your  correspondence  of  help 
fulness  and  kindly  interest  on  the  part  of 
nearly  all  who  read  the  manuscript.  After 
all,  it  must  have  been  pleasant  to  be  the 
cicerone  of  your  play. 

Like  a  good  dramatist,  too,  you  are  thor 
oughly  up  to  date.  Nowadays,  I  am  told, 
at  the  end  of  a  play,  we  should  have  settled 
nothing.  Instead  we  should  have  painted 
a  picture  or  put  a  question.  Your  "Adven 
tures"  like  Stocktons  "Lady  or  the  Tiger" 
leave  me  with  a  query  in  this  case,  one  which 
involves  the  whole  question  of  the  relation 
of  a  dramatist  to  his  audience  in  the  treat 
ment  of  his  material.  What  would  have 
happened  to  the  play  if  Pamela  had  not  shot 
D'Arcy  at  the  end  of  Act  II?  I  wonder. 


12    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

So,  in  these  few  pages,  you  discourage  us, 
encourage  us,  and  set  us  wondering.  You 
are  still  the  dramatist  I  see. 

Cordially  yours, 

GEORGE  P.  BAKER 


THE  TRUE  ADVENTURES 
OF  A  PLAY 

CHAPTER   I 

fT^HE  ancient  annals  of  the  theatre,  copi- 
JL  ous  and  never-ending,  are  filled  with 
the  records  of  the  vicissitudinous  adventures 
of  plays.  To  the  uninitiate,  perhaps,  these 
chronicles  may  seem,  somewhat,  to  strain 
for  their  effect:  the  obduracy  and  unintelli- 
gence  of  the  old-time  manager  to  be  too 
strongly  accented ;  the  sudden  success  of  the 
despised  "stop-gap"  thrust  on  at  a  mo 
ment's  notice,  to  be  too  dazzling;  but  I 
doubt  not  that  it  would  be  possible  to  paral 
lel,  in  every  generation  of  the  theatre,  in 
cidents  quite  as  remarkable  of  the  persis 
tent,  and  ofttimes  disheartening  struggle, 
of  what  the  event  proved  to  be  successful 
plays,  against  the  barriers  behind  which  the 

13 


14    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

powers  of  the  theatre  have  seemed  in  all 
times  to  have  intrenched  themselves,  as  well 
as  of  numberless  others,  whose  way  to  suc 
cess  has  been  the  primrose  way. 

The  comedies  of  Goldsmith  knocked  at 
no  more  willing  gates  than  those  of  Tom 
Robertson,  or  of  Clyde  Fitch;  while  the 
golden  path  of  success  opened  out  as  easily 
for  Oscar  Wilde  as  it  did  for  Sheridan  or 
Bulwer  Lytton.  The  ironic  tragedy  of  To- 
bin's  death  long  before  his  play,  "The  Hon 
eymoon,"  was  drawn  from  its  musty  cubby 
hole  and  successfully  produced,  is  somewhat 
analogous  to  the  fate  of  Sir  Charles  Young 
and  his  "Jim  the  Penman."  That  managers 
and  actors  are  not  infallible,  and  that  good 
plays — and  some  bad  ones — are,  is  as  true 
today  as  ever  it  was. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  feelings 
of  Mr.  Daniel  Frohman,  over  the  success 
of  "The  Lion  and  the  Mouse,"  were  largely 
akin  to  the  sensations  of  Garrick  over  the 
extraordinary  interest  that  London  and  the 
provinces  took  in  Home's  tragedy  of 
"Douglas,"  produced  by  his  rival.  And  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   15 

analogy  between  the  circumstances  of  the 
earlier  and  our  own  time  may  also  be  dis 
cerned  in  the  further  instance  of  Drury 
Lane's  famous  actor-manager,  having  once 
let  slip  the  "Scottish  Shakespeare's"  "Doug 
las,"  endeavoring  to  make  amends  for  his 
lack  of  astuteness,  by  the  quick  production 
of  the  reverend  author's  other  plays;  all  of 
them  failures.  With  much  the  same  eager 
ness  has  the  foremost  manager  of  today, 
produced  the  unsuccessful  plays  of  Augus 
tus  Thomas  and  resigned  his  more  fortunate 
ones  to  the  hands  of  temerarious  competi 
tors. 

If  we  could  but  get  the  story,  in  the  whole, 
of  some  of  the  famous  successes  and  failures 
of  bygone  days,  what  a  glow  it  would  throw 
along  the  devious  paths  most  of  them  have 
had  to  traverse  to  reach  their  goal;  how  it 
would  expose  the  hopes,  miseries,  ambitions 
and  gratifications  of  those  whose  only  peg 
for  memory  to  hang  on,  is  some  faded  play 
bill  or  casual  mention  in  some  more  faded 
reminiscence.  We  know  vaguely  of  the  pre 
carious  adventures  of  "She  Stoops  to  Con- 


16   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

quer,"  refused  by  Garrick,  half-heartedly 
produced  by  Colman;  and  Bernard  Shaw, 
in  brief  autobiographic  glimpses,  has  shown 
us  the  dubious  journeyings  of  many  of  his 
plays,  before  they  found  fit  lodging  outside 
their  book-covers.  But  seldom  it  is  that 
those  not  of  the  theatre  itself  ever  hear  or 
know  of  the  precarious  wanderings  of  most 
plays  before  they  come  to  their  own  behind 
the  footlights. 

In  bringing  together  the  facts  and  figures, 
correspondence  and  memories  of  the  travail 
of  a  little  comedy  of  my  own,  it  is  with  no 
sense  of  its  importance  in  relation  to  the 
drama  of  its  own  time,  but  simply  the  desire 
to  give  in  detail  an  example,  more  or  less 
typical,  of  the  conditions  which  surround 
and  beset  the  way  to  production  of  most 
plays  of  today.  And  I  rather  fancy,  could 
the  truth  be  known,  that  the  theatrical  ad 
ventures  of  "D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  are  as 
typical  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  as  they  are  of  the  twentieth. 

The  idea  of  writing  the  play  came  from 
overhearing  the  chance  remark,  that  a  play 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  17 

dealing  with  the  revolutionary  period  in  our 
history  had  never  been  successful.  "Never" 
is  a  challenging  word,  and  sticks  in  the  crop 
of  youth  and  inexperience,  so  my  attention 
was  immediately  concentrated  on  the  best 
method  of  changing  the  hateful  word  into 
"sometimes,"  or  at  least  a  wavering  "per 
haps."  To  this  end  I  discarded  the  usual 
formula,  and  decided  to  use  the  tragic  is 
sues  of  the  war  as  the  merest  background 
for  the  lightest  comedy  I  could  conceive.  A 
red-coated  hero  was  in  defiance  of  the  tradi 
tion  also,  but  I  made  him  an  Irishman,  which 
gave  him  an  air  of  inconsequence  and  de 
tachment  from  the  hated  British  oppressors. 
With  these  two  ideas  in  conjunction  with 
the  memory  of  a  little  story,  dear  to  my  boy 
hood,  of  a  quick-witted  Philadelphia  Quak 
eress,  Lydia  Darrow,  who  had  saved  Wash 
ington  from  surprise  at  Valley  Forge,  I 
constructed  a  simple  fiction,  that  in  my  own 
mind  depended  for  whatever  favor  it  might 
ever  hope  to  receive  more  on  the  gaiety  and 
charm  of  its  treatment  than  on  the  strength 
or  novelty  of  its  dramatic  theme. 


18   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

The  writing  took  four  months  of  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1898,  and  from  the 
very  origin  of  the  idea  I  had  Mr.  E.  H. 
Sothern  before  me  as  the  ideal  for  my  Irish 
guardsman.  As  I  was  nearing  the  comple 
tion  of  the  work  my  ardor  was  somewhat 
checked  by  the  newspaper  announcement 
that  Sothern  would  open  his  season  in  "A 
Colonial  Girl."  The  word  "Colonial" 
seemed  an  ominous  impingment  on  my  own 
enterprise,  but  "Girl"  was  reassuring,  as  I 
further  judged  from  the  following  letter, 
which  I  received  in  answer  to  an  inquiry  as 
to  whether  he  would  care  to  read  my  manu 
script.  The  italicized  words  show  the  basis 
of  my  judgment.  There  was  evidently  too 
much  "Girl"  in  his  new  play;  but  that  seems 
to  be  inevitable  when  husband  and  wife  per 
form  in  the  same  company. 

The  Stenton,  Philadelphia. 
My  dear  Shipman: 

I  have  been  worried  and  busy  about  my 
new  play — pardon  me  for  not  replying  to 
yr  letter.  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  read  yr 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   19 

play.  Will  you  please  send  it  to  me  at  37 
W.  69th  St.  If  the  play  is  good — and  has 
a  big  part  for  me,  I  will  perhaps  be  able  to 
try  it  this  season. 

My  new  piece  (which  is  a  great  success, 
by  the  way)  is  of  yr  period,  so  I  have  the 
materials  handy. 

Yrs  very  truly, 

E.  H.  Sothern. 


This  was  about  the  middle  week  of  Aug 
ust,  and  I  thought  that,  if  his  play  was  as 
great  a  success  as  he  seemed  to  think,  there 
was  no  hurry  in  forwarding  him  the  script, 
particularly  as  there  were  corrections  and 
revisions  to  make.  A  month  later  I  received 
another  letter. 


TKe  Players, 

16  Gramercy  Park. 
My  dear  Shipman: 

Did  you  get  a  letter  I  wrote  you  in  reply 
to  yrs  saying  that  you  had  a  colonial  play? 


20   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

I  sent  it  to  the  Players.    Will  you  send  me 
the  play  in  case  you  still  wish  me  to  read  it. 

Yrs  sincerely, 

E.  H.  Sothern. 

I  still  wanted  him  to  read  it,  for  I  felt 
buoyantly  confident  that  it  needed  but  peru 
sal  on  his  part  for  him  to  offer  my  own  terms 
for  its  production.  So  "D'Arcy  of  the 
Guards,"  immaculately  typed,  set  out  on  his 
journeys,  and  there  was  many  a  weary  day 
of  wandering  before  he  came  into  his  own. 

The  first  word  I  had  of  the  impression 
he  had  made  was  a  fortnight  or  so  later,  at 
the  Players,  where  I  chanced  to  meet  Daniel 
Frohman,  who  was  at  that  time  Sothern's 
manager.  And,  to  digress  a  moment,  I  wish 
here  to  take  the  opportunity,  as  it  does  not 
present  itself  again  in  this  chronicle,  to  ac 
knowledge  the  many  obligations  and  courte 
sies  that  I,  in  common  with  almost  every 
one  who  has  been  associated  with  the  theatre 
during  the  last  twenty-five  years,  owe  to 
"D.  F.,"  as  he  is  familiarly  known.  Never 
too  busy  to  listen  to  the  unknown,  generous 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  21 

in  encouragement,  appreciative  of  the  best, 
but — and  the  only  "but" — his  good-nature 
has  led  him  to  read  so  many  bad  plays  that  he 
rarely  has  the  courage  to  produce  good  ones. 

Meeting  him,  as  I  said,  at  the  club,  he 
greeted  me  with:  "Sothern  tells  me  that  at 
last  you've  written  a  good  play."  I  don't 
know  which,  of  the  many  obvious  retorts  I 
could  have  made  to  this,  I  did  make,  and  I 
ignored  the  "at  last,"  for  his  courtesy  had 
been  imposed  upon  by  all  my  previous  ef 
forts,  and  he  had  even  produced  the  worst 
of  them  the  season  before.  It  is  useless  to 
say  that  I  was  quite  lifted  to  the  clouds  by 
his  remark,  and  the  further  one  that  he 
would  read  it  at  the  first  opportunity  and 
give  me  a  decision. 

The  decision  was  given  by  Sothern  him 
self,  whom  I  saw  several  weeks  later, 
patched  and  powdered  for  his  part  in  "The 
Colonial  Girl,"  in  his  dressing-room  at  the 
old  Lyceum.  They  liked  the  play,  but  the 
story  was  too  slender  and  slight  to  hold  an 
audience,  they  felt;  and  the  climax  of  the 
third  act,  where  Major  D'Arcy  is  shot  by 


22    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Pamela  Townsend,  the  heroine,  was  an  in 
superable  objection.  No  romantic  hero 
should  ever  get  the  worst  of  it.  With  this 
axiom  to  put  in  my  pipe  and  smoke,  and 
with  my  manuscript  tucked  snugly  under 
my  arm,  I  departed  to  ruminate  on  the  laws 
of  conduct  and  circumstance  that  should  al 
ways  govern  the  romantic  hero,  and  to  won 
der  whether  Bernard  Shaw  was  not  right: 
that  the  only  hope  for  play  and  playhouse 
was  to  eliminate  the  despicable  hero  roman 
tic  entirely. 

I  next  turned  to  Mr.  Richard  Mansfield, 
who,  distinguished  always  by  his  taste  and 
interest  in  new  plays,  seemed  to  be  a  likely 
sponsor  for  my  romantic  Irishman,  and  in 
response  to  an  inquiry  from  me  I  received 
this  letter: 

Garden  Theatre, 

New  York,  Nov.  llth,  1898. 
Louis  Evan  Shipman,  Esq. 
Dear  Sir: 

Mr.  Mansfield  desires  me  to  thank  you 
for  yours  of  the  8th  inst.,  and  to  say  that  he 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  23 

will  be  most  happy  to  read  your  play  if  you 
will  be  so  good  as  to  send  him  the  MSS. 
I  am,  dear  sir, 

Yours  truly, 

Chas.  B.  Cochran, 

Secretary. 

I  quote  it  not  because  of  any  particular 
bearing  it  had  on  the  adventures  of  the  play 
— I  may  say  here  that  the  manuscript  was 
returned  shortly  after  its  receipt  with  no 
comment — but  in  a  veracious  history  of  this 
sort  it  is  not  out  of  place  to  mention  every 
door  at  which  you  knock,  whether  you  get 
by  the  portal  or  not. 

About  this  time,  too,  I  had  several  con 
versations  with  Mr.  John  Drew  concerning 
the  play,  and  gave  him  a  manuscript  to  hand 
on  to  his  manager,  Mr.  Charles  Frohman; 
but  as  it  was  nearly  six  months  before  I 
heard  of  it  again  from  them,  I  can  take  the 
opportunity  to  tell  of  the  base  use  to  which 
I  put  my  Irish  hero  and  colonial  heroine 
during  the  interim.  Finding  it  difficult  to 
get  them  on  the  boards,  I  decided  to  put 


24    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

them  between:  in  other  words  to  make  a 
book  of  them;  to  subject  them  to  the  ig 
nominy  of  the  printed  page ;  they  whose  her 
itage,  though  denied,  should  have  been  the 
glare  of  the  "bunch"  and  "spots"  and  the 
irradiation  of  glimmering  "foots."  For  ul 
terior  motive  I  had  an  idea  that  perhaps 
publishers'  advertising  and  some  favorable 
reviews  might  point  out  to  the  wary  and 
lethargic  who  sat  in  the  high  places  that  a 
perfectly  good  play  was  going  a  begging. 

And  so  the  metamorphosis  was  accom 
plished.  A  dashing  prologue  was  composed, 
the  acts  were  sliced  into  chapters,  and  be 
fore  he  knew  it,  hat  in  hand,  my  Major 
D'Arcy  was  presenting  himself  for  the  high 
er  criticism  of  a  publisher's  reader.  He  got 
it.  What  follows  is  from  one  of  the  literary 
advisers  of  The  Macmillan  Company. 

Copy  from  Report  Upon 
"D'Arcy   of   the    Guards" 

This  is  a  MSS.  by  a  clever  and  able 
writer,  but  as  it  stands  it  is  only  a  sketch 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  25 

for  a  good  story.    With  a  serious  effort  and 
a  proper  respect  for  his  work  and  his  read 
ers,  it  might  be  made  worth  publishing.    As 
it  is  the  joints  are  a  little  too  obvious,  and 
the  needful  improbability  happens  just  in 
its  proper  place  too  often.     The  reader  is 
never  warmed  up  by  excitement  because  the 
improbable  coincidences  are  brought  in  with 
what  seems  like  a  desire  to  make  a  good 
scene,  rather  than  a  good  story,  and  conse 
quently  with  a  disregard   of  the  reader's 
sense.     While  the  author  is  probably  cor 
rect  in  thinking  that  the  "romantic"  is  what 
the  people  want,  he  seems  to  have  forgotten 
that  people  do  not  care  to  know  when  they 
are  being  deceived,  especially  when  the  dis 
illusionment  is  caused  by  the  very  device  by 
which  it  is  attempted  to  make  the  illusion. 
There  is  plenty  of  theatrical  dash  and  go  in 
the  story,  but  the  quick  action  and  high  talk 
are  no  substitute  for  an  excitement  which  I 
think  should  not  need  suich  obvious  aids.    I 
am  afraid  the  story,  as  it  is,  is  not  worth  pub 
lishing,  but  the  author  can  write  if  he  will 


26   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

only  show  the  literary  patience  which  is  not 
in  evidence  in  this  MSS. 

A  week  later  the  following  telegram  came 
to  me: 

Chicago,  Feb'y  18,  '99. 
Louis  E.  Shipman, 

Care  The  Players. 

Accept  "D'Arcy"  for  immediate  publica 
tion.  Regular  royalty. 

Herbert  S.  Stone. 

This  completely  assuaged  feelings  some 
what  ruffled  by  the  higher  criticism,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  book  early  in  the  follow 
ing  April  furnished  a  tangible  incentive  for 
further  assault  on  the  dramatic  citadel ;  and 
with  the  idea  of  making  this  still  more  ef 
fective  I  enlisted  the  services  of  the  well- 
known  author's  agent,  Elisabeth  Marbury. 

In  the  course  of  talk  with  John  Drew 
during  the  winter,  I  became  convinced  that 
he  really  liked  the  play,  and  Miss  Marbury, 
on  reading  it,  expressed  herself  very  unre 
servedly  in  its  favor;  so  through  their  com- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   27 

bined  interest  I  managed,  after  six  months' 
waiting,  to  get  the  following: 

Empire  Theatre 
Charles  Frohman's  Offices 

New  York,  April  llth,  '99. 
Louis  Evan  Shipman,  Esq., 

The  Players,  City. 
Dear  Sir: — 

I  agreed  with  Mr.  Drew  and  Miss  Mar- 
bury  to  read  your  play,  the  first  opportunity, 
after  I  had  gone  through  the  enormous  num 
ber  of  plays  I  had  ahead  of  it.  I  will  reach 
it  this  month,  and  then  I  will  gladly  read  it. 
If  too  late  let  me  know  and  I  will  send  it  to 
you. 

Yours  truly, 

Charles  Frohman. 


I  discerned  faintly  some  encouragement 
here,  particularly  when  I  considered  the 
powerful  friends  my  Irishman  had  at  court ; 
but  hopes,  encouragement,  and  faith  in 
friends  at  court  disappeared  like  morning 


28    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

mists  when  the  post  delivered  this,  a  fort 
night  later: 

Empire  Theatre 
Charles  Frohman's  Offices 

New  York,  April  26th,  '99. 
Mr.  Louis  Evan  Shipman, 

The  Players,  16  Gramercy  Park,  City. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Shipman: 

I  read  your  play,  and  I  find  it  will  not 
answer  for  Mr.  Drew.  Thank  you  very 
much  for  your  consideration  in  waiting  so 
long. 

sYours  very  truly, 

Charles  Frohman. 

It  was  Mr.  Edward  Rose's  ingenuous 
adaptation  of  the  popular  novel,  "Richard 
Carvel,"  that  answered  for  Mr.  Drew  the 
following  season. 

About  this  time  I  met  Robert  Taber,  just 
returned  after  several  years'  stay  in  Lon 
don,  where,  as  a  member  of  Sir  Henry  Irv- 
ing's  company,  he  had  attracted  unusual  at 
tention  and  created  a  position  for  himself 
with  English  audiences.  I  gave  him  a  copy 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    29 

of  the  story  to  read  and  received  this  letter 
a  week  later. 

Stowe,  Vermont, 

May  13th,  '99. 
My  Dear  Shipman: 

I've  read  your  charming  book  with  great 
interest  and  will  be  delighted  to  have  you 
send  me  the  play  as  you  so  kindly  suggested, 
and  I'm  ever, 

Truly  yours, 

Robert  Taber. 

I  felt  that  he  was  peculiarly  adapted  to 
the  part  of  jyArcy,  and  waited  eagerly  to 
get  his  opinion  of  the  play,  which  I  for 
warded  to  him  immediately. 

Stowe,  Vt.,  May  23d,  '99. 
My  dear  Shipman: 

I've  read  yr  play  twice,  and  with  great  in 
terest.  I  like  it  even  better  than  the  book. 
If  properly  played — and  much  depends  on 
that — I  feel  it  would  be  undoubtedly  a  suc 
cess  in  America  (and  I  don't  think  I  am 
over-sanguine  as  a  rule  about  plays).  To 


30    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

be  quite  frank  I'm  wondering  why  you  have 
equal  expectations  for  its  success  in  Eng 
land;  personally  I  regret  exceedingly  that  I 
don't  agree  with  you  on  this  point. 

I  fear  the  sympathy  always  leaning  to  the 
American  side  would  not  be  entirely  pala 
table  to  English  audiences. 

You  have  been  good  enough  to  think  I 
could  play  the  part,  and  nothing  would 
please  me  more,  but  my  plan  is  to  remain 
in  London  for  some  time  yet,  otherwise  I 
would  gladly  try  and  come  to  some  arrange 
ment  with  you  for  the  production  of  the  play 
here. 

I  can't  see  why  you  should  have  any 
trouble  in  placing  so  charming  a  work;  if  I 
were  managing  a  company  here  I  would 
jump  at  the  chance  of  securing  a  play  so 
truly  interesting,  so  concise  in  workmanship, 
and  one  which  would  lend  itself  to  a  beauti 
ful,  simple  treatment  in  the  production. 

I  may  be  quite  wrong  about  London,  but 
most  reluctantly  I  say  I  don't  think  I  am. 

It  has  been  a  real  pleasure  reading  the 
piece.  I  congratulate  you  sincerely,  and  I 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   31 

hope  it  will  fall  into  hands  that  will  treat 
it  with  appreciation. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Robert  Taber. 

P.  S.— I  send  the  MSS.  by  reg.  mail  to 
day. 

If  the  letter  had  been  intentionally  and 
artfully  contrived  to  dash  the  hopes  and  at 
the  same  time  administer  to  the  self-esteem 
of  a  young  dramatist,  it  could  have  succeed 
ed  no  better.  And  self-esteem  was  begin 
ning  to  feel  the  need  of  even  so  harmless  a 
tonic;  hopes,  however,  revived  easily  enough 
over  night.  I  brooded  over  this  letter  for 
a  month,  and  finally  decided  to  press  Taber 
for  another  reading,  and  further  considera 
tion,  suggesting  that  he  take  it  to  London 
with  him,  and  take  the  advice  of  English 
friends  as  to  its  suitability  for  production 
over  there.  He  good-naturedly  replied: 

July  14th.  The  Players, 

16  Gramercy  Park. 

Dear  Shipman:  Thanks  for  your  kind 
ness  in  regard  to  the  play.  I  go  to  Long 


32    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Island  tomorrow,  and  it  will  be  forwarded 
to  me  there.    I'll  certainly  test  the  attitude 
of  the  English  toward  it.    I  hope  to  see  you 
here,  if  not,  thanks  and  good  wishes. 
Faithfully  yours, 

Robert  Taber. 

He  sailed  shortly  after,  and  I  heard  noth 
ing  further  for  some  weeks. 

In  the  meantime  I  read  the  play  to  Mr. 
Charles  Richman,  one  sweltering  night  in 
early  August,  and  as  I  am  a  very  bad  reader, 
and  he  was  a  very  bad  listener,  it  seemed  to 
make  but  little  impression  on  him,  although 
he  was  positive  that  the  ending  of  the  third 
act  would  spoil  a  better  play. 

It  was  not  so  very  long  after  this  that  I 
heard  from  Taber  once  more. 

Bate's  Hotel, 

Dover  Street,  W. 
August  29th,  '99, 
My  dear  Shipman, 

Another  reading  of  your  play  has 
strengthened  my  belief  in  it  for  America, 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   33 

here,  or  elsewhere,  and  if  you  still  wish  to 
negotiate  with  me  in  regard  to  it,  I  can 
make  you  the  following  offer: 

5%  of  1st  £1000  ($5000)  gross 
7l/2%  of  next  £200  ($1000)  gross 
10%  of  all  over  £1200  ($6000)  gross 

(In  strict  confidence  let  me  say  that  these 
are  the  exact  terms  for  royalty  which  I  have 

arranged  with ,  who,  as  I  told  you, 

has  already  completed  a  play  for  me.) 

Moreover  to  retain  English  speaking 
rights  I  will  pay  you  $500  (not  to  be  de 
ducted  from  royalties). 

Please  let  me  have  your  answer  at  your 
earliest  convenience  and  believe  me, 
Ever  faithfully  yours, 

Robert  Taber. 


My  "earliest  convenience"  was  the  instant 
I  could  put  pen  to  paper,  and  such  was  the 
joyousness  of  my  haste  that  I  misinterpre 
ted  his  "English  speaking  rights,"  under 
standing  him  to  mean  English  rights,  and 


34    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

that  therefore  I  was  still  free  to  negotiate 
for  the  American  rights. 

This  led  to  complications,  for  shortly  after 
I  had  word  from  a  friend  playing  in  the 
company  of  Herbert  Kelcey  and  Effie 
Shannon,  that  he  had  read  the  novel  and 
passed  it  over  to  them,  and  that  they  were 
extremely  anxious  to  read  the  play.  I  for 
warded  them  a  copy,  and  asked  Miss  Mar- 
bury  to  open  negotiations  with  them. 

Meanwhile  the  following  letter  from  Ta- 
ber. 

Arts  Club, 
Oct.  12,  '99.  40  Dover  Street, 

Piccadilly,  W. 

My  dear  Shipman:  I  did  not  answer 
your  last  kind  letter,  because  I  had  previ 
ously  seen  Miss  Marbury's  representative 
(Miss  Woodridge) ,  had  a  talk  with  her,  and 
explained  that  you  had  evidently  misunder 
stood  my  offer. 

I  knew  her  letter  of  explanation  was 
about  due  at  the  time  of  my  receipt  of  yours, 
so  to  write  to  you  again  under  those  cir- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   35 

cumstances  would  be,  I  thought,  but  com 
plicating  matters. 

I've  been  waiting  a  long  time  for  yr  re 
ply  and  yesterday  I  called  at  Miss  M's  of 
fice;  Miss  Woodbridge  was  away,  but  the 
person  in  charge  told  me  that  no  letter  re 
our  business  had  been  received  at  the  Lon 
don  office. 

You  have  doubtless  been  informed  of  my 
talk  with  Miss  Woodridge,  so  to  repeat  it 
here  would  be  quite  unnecessary. 

Let  me  say,  however,  that  I  was  much 
pleased  with  your  kind  words,  and  moreover 
though  I  modified  my  original  offer  to  a 
time  limit  of  three  years,  it  does  not  neces 
sarily  mean  that  your  play  will  not  be  pro 
duced  before  that  time.  I'm  merely  pro 
tecting  myself  in  the  event  of  Irving's  piece 
being  a  real  success,  which  I  confidently  ex 
pect,  and  I'm  almost  certain  to  produce  his 
play  first. 

I  fully  expect  to  go  to  Platt  for  the  scenes 
for  your  play.  Naturally  I  wish  to  conclude 
this  matter  as  soon  as  possible,  and  will  hope 


36   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

to  hear  from  you  either  through  the  office, 
or  to  me  direct  by  return. 
Good  luck,  best  wishes, 

Ever  faithfully  yours, 

Robert  Taber. 

This  was  the  first  that  I  had  heard  of  a 
three-year  time  limit ;  that  is  that  it  would  be 
possible  for  him  to  hold  the  play  for  three 
years  without  producing  it  in  either  coun 
try,  and  I  hesitated  to  tie  it  up  for  that 
length  of  time.  I  should  like  to  add  here 
that  there  is  no  greater  unwisdom  than  for 
an  author  to  bind  his  work  over  for  any  ex 
tended  period.  The  ways  of  the  theatrical 
world  are  devious,  and  I've  known  plays  to 
be  purchased  simply  for  the  purpose  of 
keeping  them  out  of  the  hands  of  rivals,  or 
to  prevent  their  possible  production  else 
where  conflicting  with  the  immediate  plans 
of  the  purchaser.  A  stipulation  for  produc 
tion  within  a  year,  at  the  most,  should  be  a 
part  of  every  contract. 

Feeling  this  strongly,  and  strengthened 
by  the  thought  that  Mr.  Kelcey  and  Miss 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  37 

Shannon  would  be  very  probable  purchasers 
of  the  American  acting  rights,  I  wrote  to 
Taber  stating  my  position,  and  asked  him 
to  forego  the  rights  for  over  here,  while  re 
taining  the  English.  His  reply  was: 

Arts  Club, 
Nov.  7th,  '99.  40  Dover  Street. 

Piccadilly,  W. 
My  dear  Shipman, 

I  have  yr  letter  of  the  25th,  and  I  cabled 
Miss  Marbury  today.  I'm  flattered  by,  and 
grateful  for  yr  kind  words,  and  will  take 
yr  interest  in  doing  yr  play,  in  which  as  you 
well  know,  I've  real  hopes. 

Of  course  letter  writing  in  business  mat 
ters  is  unsatisfactory,  but  in  reading  over 
the  copy  of  my  1st  letter  to  you,  I  can't  un 
derstand  why  there  should  have  been  any 
misunderstanding. 

I  made  in  it  no  mention  of  a  time  limit, 
and  as  you  know  the  terms  for  royalties  are 
very  large,  exceptionally  large,  in  fact  (I 
made  them  so  purposely  to  cover  this  very 
point  of  indefinite  production,  which  might, 


38   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY: 

I  thought,  otherwise  be  unsatisfactory  to 
you),  I  therefore  don't  feel  justified  in  mak 
ing  any  arrangement  to  forego  the  Ameri 
can  rights. 

My  modification  to  a  three  years'  clause, 
which  I  arranged  with  Miss  M's  representa 
tive  has  been  conveyed  to  you,  I  know. 

I  naturally  wish  to  conclude  this  matter, 
as  I  know  you  do,  and,  with  the  assurance  of 
yr  letter  at  hand,  I  look  for  the  contracts  by 
return.  Good  luck  to  you. 

Ever  faithfully  yours, 

Robert  Taber, 

The  same  day  I  received  this  telegram: 

New  York,  Nov.  13,  1899. 
To  Louis  Shipman. 

Kelcey  Shannon  like  play.  Write  fully 
what  you  wish  done.  Also  suggest  terms. 

Elisabeth  Marbury. 

I  wrote  to  Miss  Marbury,  who,  in  spite  of 
Taber's  repeated  visits  to  her  London  of 
fice,  did  not  seem  to  understand  the  situa 
tion,  and  got  this  reply: 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  39 

New  York,  Nov.  17th,  1899. 
My  dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  last  letter  written 
on  the  eve  of  going  to  Boston.  I  am  here 
with  sending  you  the  copy  of  a  letter  re 
ceived  from  Mr.  Kelcey.  He  tells  me  that 
he  has  a  very  fine  manager  secured  for  next 
year,  with  whom  we  shall  all  be  satisfied. 

I  think  he  is  most  anxious  to  retain  the 
play,  if  we  can  make  some  arrangement,  and 
I  think  that  he  and  Miss  Shannon  would  be 
splendid  in  it;  it  seems  a  pity  to  tie  up  with 
Mr.  Taber  so  indefinitely  for  this  country. 
Could  not  we  give  him  the  English  rights 
apart  from  the  others? 

Believe  me, 

Yours  faithfully, 

Elisabeth  Marbury. 

As  Mr.  Kelcey 's  proposition  was  rather 
indefinite  and  as  by  this  time  I  was  getting 
restless  to  have  the  matter  settled,  I  for 
warded  the  agreements  to  Taber;  and  on 
December  15th,  1899,  they  were  signed. 


CHAPTER    II 

NO  other  artist  finds  himself,  in  connec 
tion  with  his  work,  in  quite  the  pre 
dicament  of  the  dramatist.  The  painter 
moves  steadily  through  his  manifold  prob 
lems  of  color  and  tone,  until  his  picture  is 
completely  interpretive  of  the  best  that  is 
in  him,  in  relation  to  the  best  that  is  out 
side  of  him.  It  is  finished.  The  beauties 
of  it  are  for  him  complete,  and  for  as  many 
others  as  know  how  to  see.  The  composition 
of  the  musician  once  completed  is  for  all 
who  care  to  hear.  The  sculptor  may  spend 
weary  months  over  the  conception  of  his 
group,  and  its  modelling,  but  it  grows  under 
his  very  eye  and  hand,  and  stands  for  his 
own  before  all  at  the  moment  of  its  com 
pletion.  The  poet,  dealing  with  the  com 
plexity  of  character  and  motive,  with  the 

40 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    41 

grimness  of  Life,  the  beauty  of  Death,  the 
height  of  the  stars,  the  depths  of  the  sea, 
once  his  dreams  are  on  paper,  his  vision  is 
realized.  Even  though  there  be  no  pub 
lisher,  a  typewritten  copy  will  serve  every 
purpose,  and  all  true  poets  need  proper  dis 
couragement.  But  the  dramatist,  where  is 
he,  even  after  his  fable  is  squeezed  within 
the  rigid  technical  strait- jacket  that  the 
stage  demands?  What  though  his  manu 
script  be  ever  so  legibly  "typed,"  with  the 
neatest  underlining  of  stage  direction  in  red, 
who  cares  to  read  his  play  or  hear  it  read, 
except  under  friendly  compulsion?  His  is 
no  work  of  art  until  it  has  passed  through 
the  alembics  of  manager,  stage-manager, 
and  actor;  it  is  partly  theirs,  and  sometimes 
wholly,  by  the  time  the  curtain  rises;  and, 
then  seen  through  the  misty  medium  of 
others,  his  interest  in  it  seems  purely  vicari 
ous,  of  a  tenuity.  These  reflections  flow  nat 
urally  from  my  recollection  of  the  position 
in  which  I  had  placed  my  comedy,  my  "not 
yet"  work  of  art.  It  was  written,  it  was  sold, 
but  it  had  only  the  title  to  rank,  and  that  by 


42   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

the  merest  courtesy,  with  what  our  fore 
fathers,  and  some  writers  in  "The  Dial"  and 
"Athenaeum,"  call  "The  Closet  drama"; 
and  it  is  not  permitted  me  to  conceive  of 
any  more  damning  designation.  I  stand 
with  Brander  Matthews  and  "The  Morning 
Telegraph"  in  abhorrence  of  it. 

I  had  condemned  my  Irishman  to  remain 
— three  years,  possibly, — mute:  barbaric 
condemnation  for  any  Celt.  But  my  own! 
I  could  have  wept  for  him !  Instead  I  wrote 
to  Taber  to  find  out  what  his  plans  were. 
This  was  his  reply: 

Arts  Club, 
Jan.  24th,  1900.          40  Dover  Street, 

Piccadilly,  W. 
My  dear  Shipman: 

Pardon  the  delay  in  answering  your  let 
ter,  but  I've  been  rushed  to  death.  I'm  glad 
things  are  finally  settled  satisfactorily,  and 
of  course  I'll  let  you  know  in  ample  time 
whenever  I  propose  doing  your  play. 

The  man  for  the  costumes  is,  I  think, 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    43 

Teddy  Bell,  and  C.  A.  P.1  for  the  scenes: 
a  great  pair! 

Yes,  I've  taken  the  Adelphi  for  a  lease 
of  12  weeks  (option  of  renewal  also)  and 
open  there  on  or  about  March  10th 
with  Laurence  Irving's  play  "Bonnie 
Dundee." 

Ever  faithfully  yours, 

Robert  Taber. 

So  my  Irishman  had  to  give  the  pass  to 
a  Scot;  but  the  dour  figure  of  Claverhouse, 
the  protagonist  of  Irving's  play,  failed  to 
interest  Adelphi  audiences,  and  the  piece 
was  shortly  withdrawn.  I  was  illuded  by 
the  strange  hope  of  an  immediate  presen 
tation  of  "D'Arcy"  to  follow,  and  waited 
impatiently  for  a  cable  to  take  steamer  at 
once.  Then  I  tempered  my  blood  to  the 
pace  of  the  post,  and  wrote;  and  got  this 
not  entirely  satisfactory  reply: 

1  Edward  Hamilton  Bell,  art  director  of  the  New  Thea 
tre,  during  the  two  years  of  its  existence,  and  Charles  A. 
Platt,  the  distinguished  painter  and  architect. 


44   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Adelphi  Theatre, 

May  21st,  1900. 
My  dear  Shipman: 

Thanks  for  your  very  kind  letter.  Yes, 
it  was  too  bad  about  "Bonnie  Dundee,"  it 
deserved  a  better  fate,  in  many  ways  a  very 
beautiful  play,  I  think. 

My  plans  for  the  summer  are  not  yet  defi 
nitely  settled,  but  if  I  do  run  over  I  will 
hope  to  see  you. 

Don't  be  discouraged  about  "D'Arcy"; 
this  is  not  at  all  the  theatre  for  it;  it  would 
have  truly  a  poor  chance  at  this  house,  where 
plays  like  "Quo  Vadis"  are  much  more  in 
demand.  I  take  pleasure  in  sending  you  the 
only  photograph  I  have  at  hand,  one  of 
MacdufF.  Commend  me  to  all  friends,  and 
believe  me 

Ever  faithfully  yours, 

Robert  Taber. 

I  was  not  discouraged,  and  I  was  heartily 
sorry  for  the  collapse  of  his  first  independent 
venture;  however,  I  could  not  but  realize 
that  my  play  was  nearly  two  years  old  and 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    45 

was  still  a  "not  yet"  work  of  art,  though 
the  comforting  thought  consoled  me,  that  a 
few  years  more  or  less  could  give  or  take 
nothing  from  the  perspective  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  period. 

Taber  came  over  in  the  late  summer,  and 
I  didn't  see  him.  In  a  letter  from  Miss 
Marbury,  of  October  3rd,  she  said:  "If  you 
come  to  town  I  will  tell  you  of  my  interview 
with  poor  Taber.  He  confessed  that  he  had 
lost  a  lot  of  money  on  his  experiment.  I 
think,  however,  that  he  has  great  faith  in 
TTArcy.' " 

Taber  had  faith  in  him,  I  had  hope  for 
him,  but  I  could  plainly  see  that  neither 
would  suffice — he  must  needs  soon  apply  for 
charity. 

That  anyone  had  read  the  book,  or  seen 
it,  aside  from  a  lavish  number  of  presenta 
tion  copies,  I  could  not  gather  from  the  pub 
lisher's  statements,  but  the  letter  that  here 
follows  proved  me  wrong. 


46   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Baltimore,  Oct.  27th,  1900. 
Mr.  Louis  Evan  Shipman, 

My  dear  Sir: 

I  would  like  to  secure  the  dramatic  rights 
of  "D'Arcy  of  the  Guards."  Please  inform 
me  as  to  your  terms. 

As  you  may  not  recall  my  name — I  will 
add  that  I  have  been  leading  woman  with 
Mr.  Charles  Coghlan,  Mr.  James  A.  Herne, 
and  am  now  with  Mr.  Otis  Skinner. 

I  see  a  "part"  in  your  book  which  is  suit 
able  to  me;  and  I  can  confidently  say  that 
a  prominent  New  York  manager  will  pro 
duce  "D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  if  satisfactory 
terms  can  be  arranged. 

Hoping  to  hear  from  you  at  your  earliest 
convenience, 

Yours  sincerely, 

Grace  Filkins. 

I  replied  to  this  that  unfortunately  I  was 
unable  to  enter  into  negotiations  for  the 
American  rights  of  the  play,  and  gave  the 
reasons;  at  the  same  time  suggesting  an- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   47 

other  play  of  mine  for  her  purpose,  to  which 
Miss  Filkins  answered  November  3rd: 

Baltimore,  Md., 

Saturday. 
Mr.  Louis  Evan  Shipman, 

My  Dear  Sir: 

I  read  your  letter  to  me  with  much 
pleasure  and  thank  you  for  the  kind  things 
you  say  of  my  work. 

I  must  confess  I  am  disappointed  in  re 
gard  to  "D'Arcy."  Perhaps  you  may  still 
be  able  to  arrange  it  with  Mr.  Taber — is  it 
Robert  Taber? — whom  I  know  very  well, 
to  give  me  the  American  rights.  You  see  I 
love  your  heroine,  she  is  such  a  lovable,  gen 
tle,  yet  strong  womanly  character,  and  I 
know  she  is  particularly  in  my  line  of  work. 
Please  send  me  your  new  play,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  read  it,  and  hope  it  may  prove  as 
suitable  for  me  as  "D'Arcy." 

Sincerely  yours, 

Grace  Filkins. 

The  idea  that  I  should  try  to  arrange  with 
Taber  for  the  American  rights  of  the  piece 


48    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

appealed  to  me,  particularly  as  I  had  begun 
to  feel  that  a  production  over  here  was  get 
ting  further  and  further  from  his  thoughts. 
So  I  wrote  and  sounded  him,  and  found 
that  my  surmise  was  correct. 

Arts  Club, 
Dec.  10th,  1900.  40  Dover  Street, 

Piccadilly,  W. 
My  dear  Shipman, 

I  have  your  note  in  reference  to 
"D'Arcy." 

Though  I  hope  some  time  to  produce  the 
play  in  London,  I  see  no  immediate  pros 
pect  of  this,  and  as  I  have  no  expectation  of 
returning  to  America  for  the  present,  I  will 
be  perfectly  willing  to  dispose  of  the  Ameri 
can  rights. 

Indeed  I  feel  this  will  be  fairer  to  you. 

I  don't  think  you  will  find  me  difficult 
and  if  you  receive  what  strikes  you  as  a  sat 
isfactory  offer  for  the  prospects  of  the  piece, 
let  me  hear  from  you,  and  I  feel  certain  we 
can  arrange  the  matter  satisfactorily. 
Ever  sincerely  yours, 

Robert  Taber. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    49 

The  vagueness  of  this  letter  in  regard  to 
any  definite  plan  for  producing  the  play, 
gives  point  to  my  previous  remarks  against 
the  practice  of  tying  a  play  up  for  any  con 
siderable  length  of  time.  It,  however, 
cleared  the  way  for  negotiations  over  here, 
and  I  went  at  the  business  briskly  to  make 
up  for  lost  time,  urged  on  by  the  feeling 
that  through  my  inexperience  D'Arcy's 
prospects  had  suffered. 

Remembering  the  interest  of  Herbert 
Kelcey  and  Miss  Shannon  in  the  piece,  I  im 
mediately  wrote  to  him  and  had  this  in  re 
ply  shortly  after. 

Washington,  D.  C., 

Dec.  29th,  1900. 
My  dear  Mr.  Shipman: 

Many  thanks  for  your  letter.  I  wish  I 
was  in  a  position  to  at  once  take  "D'Arcy 
of  the  Guards,"  but  we  are  now  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Charles  Frohman,  who 
finds  all  our  material.  I  shall,  however,  on 
my  return  to  New  York  next  week  speak  to 


50  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

him  about  it,  as  both  Miss  Shannon  and  I 
were  so  very  much  impressed  with  the  play. 
Very  truly  yours, 

Herbert  Kelcey. 


There  was  refreshment  in  this  and  assur 
ance,  and  I  tried  to  think  that  Kelcey  might 
succeed  with  Charles  Frohman,  where  Drew 
had  failed.  To  further  bolster  up  this  self 
delusion,  I  once  more  asked  the  aid  of  Miss 
Marbury. 

New  York,  Jan.  2d,  1901. 
Dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

I  have  your  letter  and  I  have  at  once  put 
myself  in  communication  with  Mr.  Charles 
Frohman,  who  now  manages  Kelcey  and 
Shannon,  to  see  whether  he  will  consider 
your  play  for  them.     I  will  let  you  know 
as  soon  as  I  have  his  answer.    In  the  mean 
while  you  had  better  send  me  a  typed  copy. 
With  kindest  regards,  I  am, 
Yours  faithfully, 

Elisabeth  Marbury. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   51 

I  also  wrote  to  Miss  Filkins  again,  in 
forming  her  of  the  possibility  of  securing  the 
play  for  America. 

Mobile,  Alabama, 

Jan.  6th,  1901. 
My  dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

Your  letter  was  forwarded  to  me  here. 

This  is  a  flying  "one  nighter,"  so  I  hastily 

reply.    I  am  delighted  to  know  I  can  have 

"D'Arcy."    Won't  you  send  me  the  play  to 

read? 

If  it  is  all  that  I  hope  I  will  at  once  place 
you  in  communication  with  my  managers. 
When  does  Mr.  Taber  do  the  play  in  Lon 
don? 

Thanking  you, 

Sincerely, 

Grace  Filkins. 

I  had  a  complete  and  vivid  vision  of 
Charles  Frohman  and  Grace  Filkins  strug 
gling  over  the  rights  to  the  piece,  and  I 
vowed  I  should  favor  the  lady  if  she  could 
only  make  up  her  mind  quickly.  I  was  re- 


52    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

lieved,  however,  from  annoying  Mr.  Froh- 
man,  as  the  following  brief  note  shows: 

New  York,  Jan.  19th,  1901. 
Dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

I  regret  to  say  that  Mr.  Frohman  has  re 
turned  your  play,  "D'Arcy  of  the  Guards." 
With  kindest  regards,  I  am, 

Yours  faithfully, 
Elisabeth  Marbury. 

I  rebounded  from  this  and  immediately 
wrote  to  Mr.  James  Hackett,  who  had  just 
announced  that  he  intended  the  following 
season  to  try  his  fortunes  under  his  own 
management.  He  answered  very  cordially 
by  the  return  post. 

Cleveland,  Jan.  25,  1901. 
My  dear  Shipman, 

I  shall  be  delighted  to  read  your  play. 
Send  it  to  me  care  of  Theatre,  Milwaukee, 
Wis.,  where  I  shall  be  next  week. 
Most  sincerely, 

James  K.  Hackett. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  53 

A  fortnight  later  I  had  word  from  Miss 
Filkins. 

Bloomington,  111., 

Feb.  12th,  1901. 
My  dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

I  am  very  much  pleased  with  "D'Arcy." 
Although  Pamela  is  not  strong  enough 
for  me,  I  see  her  charm.  One  or  two  places 
could  be  strengthened  for  her,  and  in  no 
way  hurt  the  play. 

My  engagement  with  Mr.  Skinner's  com 
pany  closes  in  Chicago,  March  2nd,  then,  if 
we  can  agree  as  to  terms,  I  would  like  to 
make  a  trial  production  in  Philadelphia, 
Washington  and  Boston  about  the  last  of 
April. 

Please  state  your  terms.  With  clever 
stage  management  and  good  cast,  I  see  no 
reason  why  we  should  not  win. 

Your  play  is  excellent. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Grace  Filkins. 

I  stated  my  terms  and  asked  for  an  early 
reply. 


54   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Feb.  22nd,  1901. 

I  am  in  a  quandary,  my  dear  Mr.  Ship- 
man.  I  cannot  give  you  an  answer  as  to 
the  acceptance  of  your  play  until  I  consult 
with  my  manager,  to  whom  I  wish  to  read 
the  piece.  Moreover,  this  cannot  take  place 
before  March  8th  or  possibly  15th.  In  the 
meantime  I  will  submit  your  terms.  Will 
Mr.  Taber  and  Miss  Marbury  figure  in  this 
after  your  terms? 

Please  let  me  know.  I  trust  you  will  see 
your  way  clear  to  wait. 

Yours  truly, 

Grace  Filkins. 

To  a  playwright  the  way  is  always  clear 
for  that,  with  too  often  a  note  such  as  the 
following  at  the  end  of  his  patient  vigil. 

Philadelphia,  March  7,  1901. 
My  dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

I  regret  exceedingly  having  to  return 
"D'Arcy."  My  wish  for  a  fine  production 
and  good  cast  is  now  beyond  me. 

My  "backer"  is  not  willing  to  risk  expen- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   55 

diture  on  a  play  where  I  do  not  have  the 
best  part. 

I  hope  that  you  will  appreciate  that  I  at 
tended  to  this  the  moment  I  returned  home. 
Had  the  play  been  sent  earlier  it  would  have 
been  settled  when  I  was  in  Philadelphia  five 
weeks  ago. 

Thanking  you  for  your  courtesy  and 
wishing  you  worlds  of  success, 

Yours  cordially, 

Grace  Filkins. 


CHAPTER   III 

IN  speculative  moments  I  have  often  won 
dered  at  the  lack  of  solidarity,  of  sym 
pathetic  cooperation,  of  disinterested  enthu 
siasm  among  the  men  of  my  own  profession. 
They  are  wanting  in  that  bond  that  holds 
together  the  men  of  science,  the  painters, 
the  musicians,  even  the  men  of  affairs. 
Their  individualism  is  rampant:  egotistical, 
assertive,  secretive,  they  shrug  at  the  suc 
cess  of  an  associate  and  smile  cynically  at 
his  failure.  And  perhaps  the  reason  is  not 
so  far  to  seek.  It  seems  to  be  a  matter  of 
standards:  the  other  professions  have  them, 
ours  has  not.  Every  playwright  is  his  own, 
and  stands  or  falls  by  it.  If  he  be  a  man  of 
taste,  cultivation,  experience  and  training  he 
acknowledges  his  allegiance  to  the  best  tra 
ditions  of  the  theatre;  if  not,  he  measures 
himself  by  the  yard-stick  of  popular  suc 
cess.  The  two  types  are  irreconcilable,  and 
they  indulge  in  reciprocal  disdain.  Another 

56 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   57 

and  perhaps  more  subtly  disintegrating  in 
fluence  is  the  fact  that  one  author's  failure 
is  too  often  his  fellow's  opportunity.  The 
moment  a  play  shows  signs  of  weakening 
there  is  immediate  pressure  from  a  swarm 
of  competitors  for  the  chance  of  succession, 
and  it  may  be  but  human  that  these  com 
petitors  have  not  always  that  remarkable 
and  fine  detachment  that  enables  other  ar 
tists  to  glow  with  pleasure  at  an  associate's 
success,  and  to  sorrow  at  his  undoing. 

Just  at  this  time  my  friend  Henry  Miller 
had  a  disappointing  failure  in  a  play  of 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Ryley's,  "Richard  Savage."  I 
wrote  to  him  and  suggested  that  he  try  light 
comedy,  even  though  his  feelings  at  the  mo 
ment  were  tragic.  He  answered: 

Boston,  March  llth,  1901. 
My  dear  Louis, 

Will  you  send  "D'Arcy  of  the  Guards" 
to  me  at  once.  I  liked  the  story  very  much 
in  book  form.  With  all  good  wishes, 

Sincerely  yours, 

Henry  Miller. 


58   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

The  following  week  I  had  this  letter  from 
Hackett. 

St.  Louis,  March  18,  1901. 
My  dear  Shipman, 

I  have  read  your  play  and  like  it  very 
much.  It  is  interesting  and  well  constructed, 
and  I  think  has  a  good  heart  interest.  I 
have  already  decided  on  my  opening  bill, 
and  upon  the  play  to  follow  it,  and  I  am  now 
under  contract  to  produce  these  two  plays. 
That  would  necessarily  defer  until  the  fol 
lowing  season  any  possible  production  of 
your  piece.  If  you  care  to  tie  up  your  script 
until  a  year  from  next  January,  please  com 
municate  with  me  and  we  will  go  over  terms. 
I  return  your  script,  because  you  may  per 
haps  want  to  do  something  else  with  it  in 
the  meantime.  I  do  not  want  to  stand  in 
your  way  of  securing  a  production.  I  do  not 
know  whether  the  success  of  "Janice  Mere 
dith"  or  the  production  of  "Richard  Car 
vel"  will  affect  your  play  in  any  way,  though 
I  wish  for  your  sake  they  may  not ;  for  my 
own  that  they  had  been  produced  first. 

I  thank  you  very  much  for  sending  me 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    59 

your  script,  and  I  am  sorry  that  I  had  no 
opportunity  to  read  it  sooner. 
With  kind  regards,  I  am, 

Most  sincerely, 
James  K.  Hackett. 

Fortunately  I  was  not  forced  again  to 
hang  my  hero  on  so  high  a  peg  as  a  year 
from  the  following  January  suggested,  for 
in  the  very  same  mail  came  the  following 
letter: 

Troy,  N.  Y., 

Monday. 
Dear  Louis, 

"D'Arcy"  pleases  me  very  much,  but  the 
end  of  the  third  act  needs  building  up  and 
I  know  of  a  capital  situation  for  it.  The 
last  act  to  my  mind  needs  rewriting,  all  of 
which  can  be  easily  done  if  we  could  get 
together,  but  how?  Are  you  able  to  nego 
tiate  with  me  for  the  American  rights?  I 
think  I  could  get  it  produced  if  terms  are 
easy.  I  shall  be  in  Buffalo  next  Thursday, 
Friday  and  Saturday,  and  if  you  can  come 
on  I  will  divide  expenses  with  you.  As  I 


60   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

have  had  a  "facer"  with  "Savage,"  I  am  not 
"flush,"  but  now  we  are  going  into  the 
woods  I  shall  be  all  right,  no  matter  what 
the  play.  We  are  sold  out  here  and  also  in 
Albany  tomorrow  night. 

Wire  me  upon  receipt  of  this,  Empire 
Theatre,  Albany,  tomorrow  night,  Ithaca, 
Wednesday. 

I  am  very  pleased  with  your  writing  in 
the  play,  and  should  like  to  work  with  you 
on  a  more  important  piece.  The  idea  of 
a  spring  production  strikes  me  as  favorable, 
then  I  could  book  a  western  tour,  including 
San  Francisco,  for  the  summer. 

With  best  wishes, 

Sincerely  yours, 

Henry  Miller. 

My  feelings  on  the  way  to  Buffalo,  after 
this,  were  curiously  mixed.  I  could  not  sub 
due  those  of  elation,  although  by  the  read 
ing  of  all  that  has  gone  before,  anyone  can 
see  that  there  was  little  license  for  it;  the 
only  discommoding  thoughts  were  those  that 
played  around  Miller's  remarks  concerning 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   61 

the  end  of  the  third  act.  I  wondered  if  he, 
too,  had  balked  at  my  romantic  hero  being 
worsted;  and  whether  the  capital  idea  he 
had  for  building  it  up  might  not  be  for 
D'Arcy  to  shoot  Pamela,  stultifying  thereby 
his  heroic  and  romantic  pretensions,  but  re 
taining  the  centre  of  interest.  I  promised 
myself,  however,  to  be  amenable  to  every 
suggestion.  The  begging  author  cannot  be 
the  chooser:  the  ends  of  his  acts,  the  pith  of 
his  dialogue,  the  symmetry  of  his  scenes, 
melt  away  before  necessity.  He  who  enters 
the  stage-door,  heart  in  mouth,  leaves  art 
behind. 

But  I  hasten  to  contradict  this  generali 
zation  in  the  case  of  the  trembling  aspirant 
whose  play  reaches  the  notice  of  Henry  Mil 
ler.  There  is  today  in  the  American  thea 
tre  no  more  stimulating  force  than  he.  Al 
ways  sympathetic  with  the  best,  his  single 
aim  is  to  do  the  good  thing,  and,  although 
he  has  produced  his  share  of  bad  plays,  it 
has  never  been  through  any  desire  on  his 
part  to  take  advantage  of  the  unintelligence 
of  his  audiences.  Naturally,  being  an  actor 


62   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

first,  and  a  manager  second,  he  is  often  mis 
led  by  a  "fat"  part  or  a  strong  scene,  but  in 
the  main  his  judgment  is  sound,  and  his 
taste  correct.  He  may  talk  wildly  and  at 
random  on  occasion  concerning  Ibsen,  but 
I  have  never  heard  the  hated  phrase  "heart 
interest"  on  his  lips. 

During  a  day  and  a  night  in  Buffalo  we 
discussed  the  play,  and  what  he  thought 
were  the  necessary  changes  for  it:  a  new 
last  act  and  a  strengthening  or  building  up 
of  the  climax  of  the  third.  I  agreed  to  his 
suggestions,  and,  having  settled  the  busi 
ness  part  of  the  matter,  I  returned  to  the 
country  to  work  out  the  new  scheme. 

It  is  not  a  simple  task  to  discard  an  act 
of  a  play,  once  it  has  been  conceived,  and 
has  taken  its  place  as  an  organic  part  of  the 
whole,  and  that  I  was  unsuccessful  didn't 
surprise  me. 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  April  16, 1901. 
My  dear  Louis, 

I  am  sorry  I  missed  you  on  Sunday  as  I 
wanted  to  have  a  long  talk  with  you  about 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   63 

the  last  act.  It  will  be  utterly  impossible 
to  do  it  in  its  present  condition,  for  all  it 
amounts  to  now  is  about  ten  or  twelve  min 
utes'  talk. 

I  have  booked  five  weeks  in  San  Fran 
cisco,  where  I  should  like  to  produce  it,  and 
make  it  the  feature  of  the  engagement;  also 
in  the  six  weeks  I  have  in  the  surrounding 
territory;  but  until  I  get  an  act  that  I  can 
see  my  way  to  produce,  I  can  make  no  ar 
rangement  for  it.  Now,  can't  you  settle 
down  and  give  me  something  that  is  worthy 
of  the  preceding  acts.  As  I  wired  you  I 
shall  be  in  town  Sunday — tomorrow  I  play 
York,  Penna.,  Thursday  Pottsville,  Penna. 

I  hope  to  hear  from  you  in  one  of  those 
towns.  I  will  pay  the  railroad  fares  if  you 
can  manage  to  run  over. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Henry  Miller. 

Jogged  by  this  letter  I  did  "settle  down" 
and  turned  out  the  act  as  it  finally  stands; 
and,  as  I  read  over  the  manuscript  after  a 
lapse  of  twelve  years,  I  have  no  wonder  at 


64   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Miller's  dissatisfaction  with  the  first  version; 
I  only  marvel  at  his  consenting  to  produce 
the  substitute  for  it. 

No  rehearsals  of  the  play  took  place  in 
New  York,  so  after  several  consultations 
with  Henry  Ogden,  that  avatar  of  the  Co 
lonial  spirit,  over  costumes,  uniforms  and 
scenery,  I  retired  to  the  country  to  await  the 
event.  There  was  something  of  the  crude- 
ness  of  a  desertion  in  my  not  taking  the 
journey  to  San  Francisco,  but  I  had  given 
"D'Arcy"  the  best  of  me,  had  stood  by  him 
loyally,  and  had  at  last  found  him  a  cap 
tain  in  whom  I  trusted;  there  was  no  need 
further,  at  the  moment,  for  my  guardian 
ship.  His  own  good  humor  and  gaiety  had 
to  suffice. 

On  May  20th  I  had  word  by  cable  that 
that  curious  British  proceeding,  the  copy 
right  performance,1  had  been  given  in  Lon 
don,  thus  securing  Taber  in  his  English 
rights.  I  say  curious,  because  it  necessi- 

1  Under  the  new  British  Copyright  Act  this  is  no  longer 
necessary. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    65 

tales  the  giving  of  an  actual  performance 
of  the  play  to  be  copyrighted  on  the  stage 
of  a  licensed  theatre.  The  cost  of  these  pro 
ductions  varies  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  dol 
lars,  but  the  copyright  thus  secured  rests 
on  a  much  surer  foundation  than  any  fur 
nished  by  our  own  country. 

As  a  preliminary  to  the  presentation  of 
any  play  in  England,  it  has  to  pass  through 
the  hands  of  that  much  and  rightly  abused 
public  censor,  the  Examiner  of  Plays,  and 
with  his  favorable  endorsement  goes  on  to 
the  office  of  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  from 
whence  the  license  is  issued.  I  give  here  a 
copy  of  the  license,  which,  surmounted  by 
the  arms  of  Great  Britain,  and  with  its  arbi 
trary  capitalization  and  suggestion  of  om 
nipotent  officialdom,  has  the  quaint  flavor 
of  an  olden  time  that  appeals  specially,  I 
think,  to  tb^  writer  of  Colonial  plays. 

Lord  Chamberlain's  Office 
It  having  been  represented  to  Me  by  the 
Examiner  of  All  theatrical  entertainments 
that  a  typewritten  copy  entitled 


66  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY. 

"D'Arcy   of   the   Guards" 
being    a    play    in    4    acts 
does  not  in  its  general  tendency  contain  any 
thing  immoral  or  otherwise  improper  for  the 
Stage,  I,  the  Lord  Chamberlain  of  His  Ma 
jesty's  Household,  do  by  virtue  of  my  Of 
fice  and  in  pursuance  of  the  Act  of  Parlia 
ment  in  that  case  provided  allow  the  Per 
formance  of  the  said  typed  copy  at  your 
Theatre  with  the  exception  of  all  Words  and 
Passages  which  are  specified  by  the  Exam 
iner  in  the  Endorsements  of  this  License  and 
without  any  further  variations  whatsoever, 
Given  under  my  hand  this  18th  day  of 

May,  1901, 

G.  A.  Redf  ord, 

Examiner  of  Plays. 
Clarendon, 

Lord  Chamberlain. 

It  was  gratifying  to  have  my  rebellious 
heroine,  who  is  almost  flamboyant  in  her  rep 
robation  of  His  Majesty's  collateral  ances 
tor,  George  the  Third,  and  my  red-coat 
Irishman,  who  on  more  than  one  occasion 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   67 

Has  been  accused  of  being  supine  in  relation 
to  the  duty  he  owed  his  royal  master,  pass 
the  loyal  scrutiny  of  His  Majesty's  Exam 
iner  of  Plays,  and  the  Lord  Chamberlain  of 
His  Majesty's  Household. 

Henry  Miller  produced  "D'Arcy  of  the 
Guards"  in  San  Francisco  at  the  Columbia 
Theatre  on  June  10th,  1901,  with  the  fol 
lowing  cast: 

Major  John  D'Arcy  Henry  Miller 

Colonel  Jennison  Arthur  Elliott 

Major  Dalrymple  George  Pearce 

Captain  Dacier  Charles  Cherry 

Captain  Farquhar  George  Babcock 

Captain  Gregory  Fred  Thorn 

Sergeant  Tripp  Thomas  S.  Lowell 

Captain  Millhausen  George  C.  Pearce 

Captain  Raab  George  Babcock 

Captain  Townshend  H.  S.  Northrup 

Samuel  Davis  Arthur  Elliott 

Sambo  Otis  Turner 

Mrs.  Townshend  Miss  Laura  Clement 
Pamela  Townshend  Miss  Florence  Rockwell 

Cynthia  Deane  Miss  Grace  Elliston 


68   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

The  next  morning  I  received  the  anx 
iously  awaited  telegram  from  Miller. 

San  Francisco,  Calif., 

June  llth,  1901. 
Louis  Evan  Shipman, 

Windsor,  Vt. 

First  act  favorably  received.  Second, 
great;  eight  calls.  Third  went  all  right. 
Climax  quiet,  showing  against  audience's 
sympathy.  General  opinion  very  favorable. 
Play  too  short.  First  and  second  need 
lengthening.  Dialogue  went  well.  Con 
gratulations.  Henry  Miller. 

There  was  enough  in  this  to  afford  a  cer 
tain  assurance,  if  not  complacency,  while 
waiting  for  further  detail,  which  came  some 
days  later. 

3Tune  15th,  1901. 
Palace  Hotel, 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Dear  Louis, 

I  have  waited  to  study  D'Arcy,  and  find 
out  his  strength  and  weaknesses  with  the 


COSTUME  PLATE  FOR  "D^ARCY  OF  THE  GUARDS" 
BY  HENRY  OGDEN 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  69 

public,  before  writing  you.  Here  is  what  I 
observe.  Act  first  makes  very  little  impres 
sion  upon  the  audience.  There  are  a  few 
laughs,  and  undoubtedly  the  scene  between 
Jack  and  Pamela  should  be  written  up. 
They  (the  audience)  are  inclined  to  laugh, 
and  should  be  given  some  opportunity;  be 
sides,  the  act  only  plays  seventeen  minutes. 
Act  second  is  a  peach,  and,  at  the  end  of 
that  act  last  Monday  night,  I  thought  we 
had  a  gold  mine.  But  act  third  is  wanting — 
there  needs  another  complication.  The 
shooting  of  D'Arcy  does  not  send  the  audi 
ence  into  a  delighted  condition,  and  the  act 
falls  flat,  although  there  is  considerable 
laughter,  and  the  play  does  not  seem  to  drag. 
I  made  a  change  today  at  the  end,  and  it 
went  better.  The  last  act  goes  much  better 
than  I  thought,  and  the  love  scene  at  the 
close  makes  a  marked  impression.  But  the 
cold  facts  are  these:  "Heartsease"  played 
to  $5,800  on  the  week;  "Importance  of  Be 
ing  Earnest,"  with  stock  scenery,  and  a  roy 
alty  of  $100  per  week,  drew  $5,900,  while 
"D'Arcy,"  which  has  far  exceeded  my  pro- 


70    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

posed  outlay,  costing  me  $2,000  to  produce, 
has  just  finished  its  first  week  at  $4,700. 
The  play  certainly  has  had  every  chance, 
both  as  to  cast  and  production,  and  I  feel 
that  we  have  a  good  piece  of  property  to 
work  upon,  but  much  development  must 
take  place.  I  will  write  you  again.  I  am 
rushing  this  off,  as  I  know  you  will  be  desir 
ous  to  know  more  than  my  telegram  told. 
Am  sending  enclosed  a  few  clippings  from 
the  weeklies,  which  don't  matter  much — it 
is  the  public  I  am  looking  to  for  judgment. 
I  hope  you  are  well.  We  are  in  Los  Ange 
les  next  Monday  week.  Shall  play  "D'Ar- 
cy"  half  the  week  there.  With  sincere  re 
gards,  Yours  very  truly, 

Henry  Miller. 

I  had  to  interpret  this  by  the  terms  of  the 
counting-house,  in  which  it  was  written: 
Oscar  Wilde  was  $1,200  better  than  my 
Irishman,  and  Charles  Klein  $1,100;  there 
fore  the  balance  of  trade  was  in  their  favor. 
D'Arcy  had  overdrawn  his  account,  and  I, 
as  his  endorser,  was  called  upon  to  make 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   71 

good  his  deficiency.  He  evidently  had  some 
amiable  qualities,  and  it  would  be  a  pity  to 
see  him  go  into  bankruptcy.  This  is  what 
I  gathered,  and  had — not  too  buoyantly — to 
ponder  over.  The  following  letter,  from 
Miller's  business  representative,  lifted  the 
cloud  a  little,  and  allowed  me  to  see  that  it 
might  at  least  have  a  German  silver  lining. 
Business  representatives  are  not  usually  op 
timistic  unless  the  "standing  room  only" 
sign  is  in  requisition  nightly. 

Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  June  30,  1901. 
My  dear  Louis, 

Enclosed  find  royalty  and  statements  for 
4  performances  of  "D'Arcy,"  week  ending 
June  29th.    We  now  rest  for  2%  weeks,  and 
as  soon  as  we  resume  I  will  remit  you.    The 
play  is  going  fine,  and  you  can  rest  assured 
that  it  is  going  to  be  a  big  winner.    We  close 
in  Denver,  Aug.  21st,  then  direct  to  New 
York,  where  I  hope  to  see  you. 
Trusting  you  are  well,  believe  me, 
Sincerely  yours, 

J.  M.  Fedris. 


72   ADVENTURES  OF  &  PLAY 

There  was  enough  comfort  in  this  to  car 
ry  me  over  the  weeks  that  intervened  until 
I  next  heard  from  Miller. 

Seattle,  WasK.,  Aug.  1st,  1901. 
My  dear  Louis, 

At  last  I  have  come  to  a  decision  regard 
ing  "D'Arcy,"  and  that  after  considerable 
rehearsing  and  trying  different  methods  to 
make  the  end  of  third  act  effective. 

The  play,  as  it  stands  now,  is  about  two- 
thirds  good,  but,  unfortunately,  the  defec 
tive  portion  occurs  just  at  the  time  an  audi 
ence  expects  the  most  effective  scene.  I  be 
lieve  you  can  remedy  the  trouble,  and,  if  you 
do,  the  play  will  put  many  dollars  in  our 
pockets,  but,  as  it  is,  I  have  no  faith  in  its 
success.  To  begin  with,  the  first  act  needs 
strengthening,  or  elaborating,  giving  D'Ar- 
cy  and  Pamela  more  comedy.  What  there 
is  goes  well,  but  it  is  all  too  brief,  and  the 
curtain  drops  leaving  the  audience  unsatis 
fied. 

The  second  act  is  a  gem,  so  good  that  ex 
pectancy  runs  high  for  the  next.  Now  this 


ADVENTURES  OF.  A  PLAY   73 

act  begins  well:  a  short  scene  between  the 
negro  and  Gregory.  The  one  between  Jack 
and  Greg.,  the  arrival  of  the  officers,  the 
seating  themselves  about  the  table,  all  smok 
ing,  and,  before  a  word  is  spoken,  receive  a 
round  of  applause.  The  toast  to  "King 
George  and  his  fighting  men,"  and  the  ac 
companying  business  brings  another  round; 
the  singing,  etc.,  everything  until  the  shoot 
ing  of  Jack,  which  is  so  against  the  desire  of 
the  audience  that  you  can  hear  the  interest 
drop. 

The  last  act  can  be  made  very  good,  and 
the  end,  the  love  scene,  is  voted  exquisite. 

Now,  in  face  of  what  we  have  got,  can't 
we  invent  a  fifteen-minute  scene,  or  effect, 
that  will  bring  the  third  curtain  down  in 
something  of  the  manner  of  the  previous 
one?  If  so  we  have  a  success  without  doubt. 
I  have  not  rushed  upon  this  decision,  and  I 
have  this  to  suggest :  Come  to  Denver,  Aug. 
18th,  and  watch  the  three  performances 
there.  It  will  show  you  clearly  the  merits 
and  demerits.  If  we  can  improve  the  play, 
and  I  am  sure  we  can,  I  will  book  it  for  four 


74   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

weeks  through  territory  where  I  have  a  fol 
lowing,  invite  Mr.  Frohman  to  see  it,  and 
then  a  New  York  production.  Let  me  know 
by  wire  what  you  think  of  this.  We  shall 
be  in  Tacoma  Aug.  9th,  10th,  then  Salt 
Lake  City  on  the  12th.  I  enclose  two  small 
photos  of  D'Arcy. 
With  best  wishes, 

Sincerely  yours, 

Henry  Miller. 

So  I  journeyed  across  the  country  in  the 
middle  of  August,  to  the  rescue  of  my 
guardsman,  with  feelings  somewhat  mixed, 
and  little  of  hopefulness. 

Like  Charles  Lamb  and  Mary,  on  that 
memorable  night  and  disastrous,  when  they 
witnessed  the  performance  of  "Mr.  H."  at 
Drury  Lane,  I  sat  "next  the  tweedledees," 
way  down  in  front,  to  see  D'Arcy  make  pub 
lic  exhibition  of  himself  at  the  Broadway 
Theatre,  Denver.  I  was  in  something  of  a 
tremor,  and  I  remember  scanning  the  audi 
ence  much  as  a  prisoner  in  the  dock  might 
the  faces  of  a  verdict-laden  jury  returning 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  75 

to  their  seats.  I  remember,  too,  the  comfort 
I  derived  that  night,  before  the  curtain  rose, 
from  the  fact  that  my  jury  was  a  packed  one 
— in  a  pleasant  sense. 

The  theatre  was  filled  with  a  typical  pro 
vincial  American  audience,  that  curious, 
good-humored,  responsive,  unintelligent  con 
glomeration,  that  night  after  night  fills  our 
playhouses  by  the  thousands.  Night  after 
night,  year  in  and  year  out,  these  thousands 
pay  more  money  for  their  play-going  than 
all  the  other  theatre-going  people  in  the 
world  together.  And,  when  one  has  stated 
this  characteristic,  all-embracing  statistic, 
one  has  exhausted  the  superlative  commen 
datory.  For,  in  the  last  bitter  analysis,  it  is 
this  huge,  crude,  inchoate  mass  of  theatre 
goers,  scattered  continent  wide,  that  is  in 
great  part  responsible  for  the  present  low 
estate  of  everything  connected  with  our 
drama:  the  hideous,  uncomfortable  theatres; 
the  ignorant,  illiterate,  commercial  manage 
ment;  the  ill-trained  actors;  the  worse- 
trained  authors:  the  whole  sum  of  our  raw, 
unbeautiful,  inartistic  conditions  is  attribu- 


76  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

table  to  it,  and  to  no  other  cause.  But  the 
very  size  and  stubbornness  of  this  unwieldy 
mob,  with  its  gleams  of  intelligence,  its  quick 
and  ingenuous  sympathies,  its  rare  intui 
tions,  and  its  eagerness  to  be  amused,  make 
the  fight  against  it,  and  even  the  numerous 
defeats,  inspiring  to  all  those,  and  they  are 
not  yet  many,  though  steadily  increasing  in 
numbers,  for  whom  a  play  is  not  merely  a 
feeble,  vapid  "show,"  but  a  transcript  and 
criticism  of  life,  be  it  cast  in  the  whimsical, 
gay  form  of  fantasy  and  farce,  or  in  the 
more  orderly,  more  closely  reasoned  form  of 
comedy  and  tragedy. 

Having  been  diverted  by  "tweedledums," 
I  now  return  to  my  position  near  the  "twee- 
dledees,"  and  the  memory  of  my  tremors. 
The  recollection  of  them  comes  back  to  me 
with  more  force  than  my  impressions  of  the 
performance.  How  I  shivered,  and  went 
cold  and  hot  at  the  thinness  and  banality  of 
the  humor !  What  gratitude  filled  me  at  the 
ease  and  nonchalance  with  which  Miller,  a 
very  handsome,  gracious  figure  in  his  scarlet 
and  white,  glided  over  the  slender,  tenuous 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   77 

situations,  and,  at  the  whimsical,  purple- 
faced,  spluttering  figure,  irresistibly  comic 
before  he  uttered  a  line,  of  Gregory,  in  the 
hands  of  that  delicate  little  comedian,  Fred 
Thorne.  In  fact,  almost  every  feeling,  in 
cluding  the  shame  at  my  own  part  in  the 
performance,  was  swallowed  up  in  the  feel 
ing  of  indebtedness  I  had  to  the  whole  com 
pany,  for  their  patience,  good  nature,  and 
skill,  in  handling  the  meagre  material  that 
was  given  them.  I  was  conscious,  too,  of 
how  the  whole  had  been  built  up,  extended, 
elaborated,  rounded  into  shape  by  careful 
and  simple  stage  management. 

So  that  it  was  a  chastened  and  rather  hum 
ble  author  who  presented  himself,  after  the 
final  curtain,  at  the  door  of  Miller's  dress 
ing-room.  He  was  beaming  as  he  grasped 
my  hand.  "It  was  fine,  my  boy;  eleven  hun 
dred  dollars  in  the  house.  And  they  took  it 
like  candy!" 

The  following  morning,  owing  to  the 
amiable  notices  of  the  play  in  the  papers,  the 
following  bill  was  hastily  printed  and  spread 
over  the  city: 


78   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Look! 
Owing  to  the  great  success  of 

HENRY  MILLER 
and  His  Company, 
in  the  Romantic  Comedy, 
"D'Arcy  of  the  Guards," 
The  engagement  has  been  extended  until 
Saturday  evening,  with  a  Satur 
day  matinee. 

The  five  performances  that  followed — 
"The  Importance  of  Being  Earnest"  was 
given  for  one  night — were  invaluable  for 
giving  me  a  line  on  the  alterations  that  were 
necessary — or,  if  not  necessary,  at  least  ad 
visable.  I  watched  them  closely,  and  night 
ly,  after  the  play,  Miller  and  I  compared 
notes,  and  decided  on  changes.  Fred 
Thorne  as  Gregory,  the  old  surgeon,  was 
too  quaint  and  amusing,  so  we  decided  to 
sacrifice  him  and  as  many  of  his  "good 
lines"  as  possible  to  D'Arcy,  and  whatever 
the  other  difficulties  they  were  easily  reme 
died,  save  the  ending  of  the  third  act,  which 
was  a  stumbling  block  and  always  remained 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   79 

so.  Whether  it  was  my  fault  or  whether  it 
was  attributable  to  the  timidity  and 
evasiveness  with  which  both  Miss  Rockwell 
and  Miller  handled  the  scene,  I  never  could 
decide,  but  it  always  remained  unsatisfac 
tory  to  everyone  on  both  sides  of  the  cur 
tain. 


CHAPTER   IV 

r  I  iHERE  was  something  like  four  weeks 
A  between  the  closing  of  the  season  in 
Denver  and  the  call  for  rehearsals  in  New 
York,  during  which  time  I  had  been  polish 
ing,  rearranging,  and  tinkering.  A  few 
minor  changes  were  made  in  the  cast,  and 
Mr.  Walter  Allen  succeeded  the  comical 
Fred  Thorne  as  Gregory. 

The  first  performance  of  the  revised  play 
was  given  in  Syracuse  at  the  Wieting  Opera 
House,  on  October  7th,  1901.  And  it  was 
an  occasion  of  considerable  importance  to 
Miller;  for  he  was  his  own  manager,  that 
is  his  own  money  was  invested  in  the  produc 
tion,  and  unless  a  manager  has  a  New  York 
theatre  or  controls  what  is  called  "time"  in 
one,  it  is  a  venturesome  proceeding  to  pro 
duce  a  play  "on  the  road."  Provincial  au 
diences  are  very  shy  of  new  plays,  and  re- 

80 


COSTUME  PLATE  FOR  "D^ARCY  OF  THE  GUARDS" 
BY  HENRY  OGDEN 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   81 

fuse  to  patronize  them  unless  they  have  had 
New  York  approval;  and  the  New  York 
manager  is  very  loth  to  open  his  doors,  un 
less  substantially  guaranteed,  to  anything 
that  has  not  played  to  "standing  room  only" 
in  Atlantic  City,  Scranton,  Middletown,  or 
whatever  particularly  patient  "dog"  the 
piece  has  been  tried  on.  So  Miller  had 
booked  a  tentative  season  of  four  or  five 
weeks  near  by  New  York  with  the  hope  that 
a  successful  impression  on  smaller  towns 
would  enable  him  to  gain  a  hearing  before 
the  audience  which  all  actors,  authors,  and 
managers  wish  for  and  dread  the  most. 

The  Syracuse  performance  succeeded 
well  beyond  our  doubts,  and  the  first  bar 
rier  seemed  cleared  for  a  descent  on  the  me 
tropolis,  but  it  was  imperative  that  some 
important  New  York  manager  should  see 
the  play  and  pass  judgment.  If  anything 
were  odd  or  seemed  out  of  the  ordinary  in 
the  theatrical  world,  it  would  have  struck 
me  as  singular  that  "D'Arcy's"  circle  of  ad 
ventures  should  now  have  swung  around  to 
almost  the  original  starting  point:  Charles 


82   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Frohman;  for  upon  his  decision  rested  the 
opportunity  of  a  New  York  opening. 

Frohman  and  Miller  had  been  friends  for 
years,  a  friendship  that  had  started  when 
one  was  the  business  manager  and  the  other 
leading  man  in  a  company  travelling  in  the 
West.  I  have  often  been  edified  by  the  tale 
that  Miller  tells  of  youthful  confidences 
that  were  exchanged,  one  night  after  the 
play,  as  they  walked  the  streets  of  San  Fran 
cisco.  "Charley,"  said  Miller,  "some  day  I 
mean  to  be  leading  man  in  a  New  York 
stock  company."  "And  some  day,  Henry, 
I  intend  to  own  a  theatre  in  New  York," 
was  the  modest  reply  of  the  little  man,  who 
has  since  become  the  most  important  figure 
in  the  theatrical  world  of  England  and 
America;  and  doubtless  both  had  mental 
reservations  as  to  the  fatuity  of  the  other. 

It  was  difficult,  however,  for  even  Miller 
to  persuade  such  a  busy  manager  to  run 
out  of  town  to  see  a  play,  which  he  had  him 
self  repeatedly  refused  to  produce,  though 
probably  all  memory  of  that  had  escaped 
him;  but  an  amusing  and  fortuitous  circum- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   83 

stance  added  to  Miller's  persuasions  finally 
brought  him.  I  give  the  incident  here  as 
an  example  of  the  slender  thread  from 
which,  at  times,  the  fortunes  of  a  play  are 
suspended. 

The  series  of  suburban  performances  had 
brought  the  play  to  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey, 
and  it  chanced  there  to  make  an  impression 
on  an  enthusiastic  member  of  the  staff  of 
the  New  York  Evening  Sun;  so  much  so 
that  he  persuaded  the  regular  critic  of  the 
paper,  Mr.  Acton  Davies,  to  let  him  write 
a  notice  of  it,  which  he  did  to  the  length 
of  a  column,  and  beginning:  "Mr.  Henry 
Miller  is  now  playing  on  the  road  with  a 
well  drilled  company  in  'D'Arcy  of  the 
Guards,'  a  comedy  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  by  Mr.  Louis  Evan  Shipman — Mr. 
Miller  appeared  in  Elizabeth  on  Wednesday 
evening,  and  scored  a  pronounced  success  on 
the  merits  of  the  new  play,  and  the  manner 
of  its  presentation."  This  was  the  prelude 
to  a  very  appreciative  little  criticism,  which 
wound  up  with  the  following:  "With  such 
a  play  and  company  Mr.  Miller  may  ven- 


84  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

ture  to  face  a  metropolitan  audience  with 
out  concern.'' 

On  the  very  day  following  the  publica 
tion  of  this,  when  Miller  called  on  Frohman, 
the  latter  was  found  perusing  the  Evening 
Sun's  notice.  "If  you  can  get  a  notice  like 
that  out  of  Acton  Davies  you  must  have  a 
good  'show,'  "  he  said.  And  it  was  less  than 
a  week  after  that  that  he  went  up  to  New 
Haven  to  see  for  himself.  I  may  add  here 
that,  although  I  have  produced  several 
plays  since  then,  I  have  never  had  so  good 
a  "notice"  from  Acton  Davies  as  the  one  he 
didn't  write. 

As  a  result  of  Charles  Frohman's  visit 
to  New  Haven  I  received  the  following  tele 
gram,  dated  from  there,  October  26th, 
1901: 

"Good  news.  'D'Arcy'  goes  to  New  York 
in  November,  perhaps  Boston  before.  Keep 
this  strictly  confidential :  important  business 
reasons. 

H.  M." 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    85 

This  was  followed  a  couple  of  days  later 
by  the  letter  below: 

New  Britain,  Conn. 
Oct.  29th,  1901. 

My  dear  Louis, 

I  have  not  had  a  moment  to  sit  down  and 
tell  you  the  details  of  our  prospective  New 
York  engagement  before  now.  Mr.  Froh- 
man  saw  "D'Arcy"  in  New  Haven  last  Fri 
day  night,  and  of  course  the  pistol  refused 
to  fire,  so  we  were  struck  in  our  most  vul 
nerable  spot.  After  performance  we  supped 
together,  and  at  the  same  time  he  gave  me 
his  impression  of  the  play,  beginning  by  say 
ing  that  we  had  many  good  things  in  it.  The 
first  act  he  thought  was  weak  and  amateur 
ish,  and  needed  rearranging  and  rewriting, 
making  the  intrusion  of  the  British  more  ap 
parent,  the  excitement  of  all  greater,  and 
especially  preparing  them  for  D'Arcy's 
brogue,  as  he  says  it  takes  some  little  time 
to  realize  what  I  am  driving  at — this  is 
rather  rough  on  me.  The  meeting  between 
Pamela  and  D'Arcy  should  make  a  marked 


86   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAYi 

impression  upon  each  of  them,  no  matter 
how  strongly  she  fights  against  the  favor 
able  impression  he  has  made  upon  her.  C. 
F.  feels  that  neither  character  at  the  end 
of  the  act  has  betrayed  any  hint  of  what  is 
to  follow,  and  he  suggests  that  I,  as  D'Arcy, 
do  all  the  heroics ;  but  it  will  take  too  much 
time  to  write  you  all  he  said  concerning  it. 
From  the  declaration  of  love  in  Act  second 
to  the  exit  of  the  officers  in  Act  third  he  was 
delighted;  then  he  felt  we  lost  all  grip  and 
did  not  recover  it  until  the  final  love  scene. 
But  to  sum  it  all  up  he  believes  that  in  New 
York,  after  Act  first,  the  feeling  of  audi 
ence  would  be  tolerant,  at  the  end  of  Act 
II.  delighted,  and  continue  so  until  five  min 
utes  before  the  end  of  Act  III.;  however, 
he  thinks  that  difficulty  here  can  be  reme 
died,  and  will  conduct  the  rehearsal  in  New 
York  himself  before  our  opening;  but,  as  he 
saw  it  on  Friday,  he  says  "D'Arcy's"  metro 
politan  career  would  be  brief.  The  last  act 
does  not  bother  him  as  the  play  will  have 
succeeded  or  failed  before  that ;  so  our  stum 
bling  blocks  are  the  first  act,  which  can  be 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  87 

easily  arranged  according  to  F.'s  ideas, 
which,  I  think,  are  excellent,  and  the  ma 
chinery  of  the  end  of  Act  second  improved 
upon,  for  I  believe  our  purpose  there  is 
correct  and  should  and  will  be  made  effec 
tive. 

The  performance  made  a  decided  hit  with 
him,  and  he  wishes  no  changes  in  the  cast. 
He  says  it  is  one  of  the  most  efficient  and 
harmonious  ensembles  he  has  witnessed  for 
some  time.  So  that  determines  me;  besides, 
to  make  any  changes  now  would  be  a  dan 
gerous  experiment.  Here  I  have  been  run 
ning  on  without  telling  you  that  he  has  de 
cided  that  we  follow  "Eben  Holden"  at  the 
Savoy.  I  saw  the  dress  rehearsal  of  that 
play  Sunday  night  and  I  conclude  that  we 
shall  open  Nov.  25th.  We  close  Nov.  19th 
in  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  and  begin  rehearsing 
under  C.  F.'s  direction  immediately.  I  wish 
I  could  see  you  regarding  the  first  act  next 
week,  as  I  want  to  have  something  to  sug 
gest  to  him  when  we  arrive  in  town. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

Henry;  Miller. 


88  ADVENTURES  OF  K  PLAY 

The  surmise  as  to  our  opening  date  at  the 
Savoy  was  three  weeks  wide  of  the  mark; 
and  it  was  not  until  the  sixteenth  of  De 
cember  that  we  took  possession  of  the  little 
play-house  on  Thirty-fourth  Street. 

In  the  meantime  I  wrote  a  new  scene  for 
D'Arcy  and  Pamela  in  the  first  act,  and 
Miller  and  I  daily  struggled  to  cast  a  sym 
pathetic  glamour  over  the  dastardly  out 
rage  that  Pamela  perpetrated  every  time  she 
shot  so  amiable  and  winsome  a  person  as 
Jack  D'Arcy.  Miller  mentions  in  the  let 
ter  I've  just  quoted,  that  the  pistol  misfired 
at  the  crucial  moment  on  the  night  that 
Charles  Frohman  saw  the  play  in  New  Ha 
ven.  This  mishap  often  occurred  afterward, 
and  was  blamed  always  on  the  property 
man ;  but  I  have  often  thought  that  the  real 
cause  was  Miss  Rockwell's  constant  distaste 
at  upsetting  all  laws  of  the  romantic  drama 
by  the  shooting  of  so  gay,  and  lovable,  and 
ingratiating  a  hero.  If  she  could  have  but 
riddled  the  villain  it  would  have  been  dif 
ferent;  but  my  little  comedy  had  no  villain 
— save  the  property  man — connected  with  it, 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   89 

and  therefore  romantic  actors  and  romantic 
actresses,  to  say  nothing  of  romantic  situa 
tions,  were  forced  to  remain  baffled. 

I  well  remember  the  day  that  rehearsal 
was  called  for  the  inspection  and  direction 
of  the  redoubtable  C.  F.  The  company  was 
separated  into  nervous  little  groups  about 
the  dimly  lighted  stage,  all  peering  anxious 
ly  into  the  gloom  of  the  auditorium.  There 
was  even  a  certain  perturbation  perceptible 
in  Miller,  and,  as  for  myself,  candor  com 
pels  me  to  record  that  I  was  neither  nervous 
nor  flurried;  I  had,  rather,  a  cool,  curious 
expectancy.  I  had  heard  often  of  Charles 
Frohman's  masterly  stage  management,  his 
extraordinary  resourcefulness  and  sugges- 
tiveness  for  author  and  player  alike,  and  I 
was  all  eagerness  to  see  the  magician  wave 
his  wand.  When  he  appeared,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Edward  Rose,  I  had  instant  misgiv 
ings  that  the  wand  might  turn  out  a  broken 
reed  and  misgivings  were  somewhat  justi 
fied  by  the  event.  His  good  nature  and  af 
fability  were  impregnable  and  his  patience 
illimitable,  but  I  gathered  after  the  first  re- 


90   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

hearsal  that  his  main  idea  was  that  Mr.  Rose 
should  dramatize  my  play.  In  all  the  inno 
cence  of  outraged  young  authorhood  I  com 
plained  both  loud  and  deep  to  Miller,  and 
was  quickly  quieted  and  comforted  by  the 
cynical  wisdom  of  his  reply:  "This  is  his 
fun ;  let  him  have  it.  We'll  play  it  our  own 
way  when  the  time  comes." 

He  had  his  fun  for  the  whole  of  a  week, 
and  the  sum  total  of  his  suggestions  was  em 
bodied  in  a  drum  and  fife  playing  Yankee 
Doodle  behind  the  scenes  during  the  first 
act,  and  the  plunging  of  the  scene,  at  the 
end  of  that  act,  from  a  mid-day  glare  to  a 
mid-night  darkness,  so  that  a  spot  light 
directed  on  D'Arcy  would  illumine  the 
"marked  effect"  that  Pamela  had  made  upon 
him.  The  shades  of  night  never  fell  so  fast, 
and  the  effect  was  "marked,"  though  not 
entirely  convincing.  As  for  "Yankee  Doo 
dle,"  it  was  heard  no  more  after  the  first 
performance. 

The  glamour  which  surrounds  a  first  night 
borrows  something  of  its  glow  from  the  thea 
tre's  rare  tradition,  a  tradition  that  itself 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   91 

has  been  rendered  artificially  bright,  per 
haps  by  association  with  discriminating  if 
affectionate  play-goers.  From  Pepys  to 
Hazlitt,  down  to  our  own  time  and  con 
temporaries,  Walkley,  Beerbohm  and  Win 
ter,  to  name  at  random,  the  charm  of  the 
chronicler  has  communicated  itself  to  what 
he  wrote  of,  until  the  play-house,  its  inhab 
itants,  and  that  high  occasion,  a  first  night, 
take  on  something  of  the  beauty  and  mys 
tery  of  things  apart,  with  all  their  special 
sanctions  and  appeals. 

Viewed  in  the  beginning  from  very  high 
places  in  New  York  theatres  something  over 
thirty  years  ago,  but  later  from  lower  lev 
els  and  more  intimate  angles,  the  first  per 
formance  of  plays  has  always  had  a  very 
rare  quality  for  me ;  even  in  these  later  years 
when  I  am  subtly  conscious  that  some  of 
the  bloom  is  gone  from  such  festal  occasions, 
gone  from  both  "in  front"  and  "behind,"  yet 
the  old  thrill,  scarcely  modified,  still  re 
sponds  to  the  exultation  of  the  always  mem 
orable,  always  hazardous  moment  before  the 
curtain  rises. 


92   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

The  New  York  audience  lends  neither 
dignity  nor  brilliance  to  these  events.    Rep 
resentatives  of  the  other  arts  would  be  con 
spicuous  by  their  absence  but  for  the  fact 
that  they  have  never  been  present;  the  State 
is  represented  by  some  prosperous   Tam 
many  politician:  an  inspector  of  gas  meters 
or  what  not;  the  Law  was  for  years  con 
tinually  accounted  for  on  first  nights  by 
one  whose  enforced  and  seclusive  retirement 
was  deemed  necessary  recently  by  a  jury 
of  his  fellow  citizens;  and  Society,  that  gay 
and  gilded  chimera  of  the  American  news 
papers,  passes  unostentatiously  to  two  aisle 
seats  in  the  front  row,  and  ruminates  quietly 
on  what  to  have  for  supper  after  the  "show." 
Henry  James  has  described  these  congre 
gations  unerringly  as  "the  omnium  gather 
um  of  the  population  of  a  big,  commercial 
city,  at  the  hour  of  the  day  when  their  taste 
is  at  its  lowest,  flocking  out  of  hideous  ho 
tels  and  restaurants,  gorged  with  food,  stul 
tified  with  buying  and  selling  and  with  all 
the  other  sordid  preoccupations  of  the  day, 
squeezed  together  in  a  sweltering  mass,  dis- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   93 

appointed  in  their  seats,  timing  the  author, 
timing  the  actor,  wishing  to  get  their  money 
back  on  the  spot,  before  eleven  o'clock," 
and  adds  pathetically,  "Fancy  putting  the 
exquisite  before  such  a  tribunal  as  that !" 

If  there  were  to  be  a  feeble  query  as  to 
why  the  glory  that  surrounded  and  perme 
ated  a  first  night  at  Daly's,  Wallack's,  The 
Union  Square,  and  the  old  Madison  Square, 
has  faded  and  flickered  to  the  present  dim 
affair,  it  could  be  answered  with  the  brief 
story  of  the  declension  of  the  individual, 
trained  and  more  or  less  cultivated  manager 
of  the  type  of  Daly,  Wallack  and  Palmer 
to  the  present  commercialized  management, 
completely  detached  from  every  artistic  and 
intellectual  movement  in  the  community  and 
oblivious,  through  ignorance,  that  there  are 
standards  of  taste  and  beauty  and  excel 
lence  that  a  cultivated  audience  demands. 
But  the  fault  lies  not  entirely  with  these 
market-place  managers ;  a  goodly  portion  of 
it  may  be  laid  at  the  door  of  those  who  have 
allowed  so  rare  a  form  of  art,  so  ennobling 
a  means  of  education,  and  so  innocent  a 


94   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

form  of  amusement,  to  have  been  laid  hold 
of  by  those  whose  only  object  and  instinct 
has  been  that  of  mere  money  gain.  I  do 
not  blame  the  commercial  manager;  he  has 
only  followed  his  instincts,  and  developed 
the  theatre,  as  a  business  man  would,  with 
indefatigable  perseverance  and  astuteness. 
But  I  do  censure  those  who  by  their  power, 
intelligence,  and  influence:  our  super-finan 
ciers  and  inordinately  rich,  the  heads  of  our 
learned  societies  and  institutions,  and  the 
cultivated  few  who  strain  their  eyes  to  far 
away  continental  horizons;  to  these  belongs 
the  greater  blame,  for  they  were  in  a  posi 
tion  to  prevent  the  theatre  from  being 
dragged  down,  and  they  yielded  it  to  the 
hucksters  who  now  administer  it. 

Their  belated  and  pathetic  attempt  to  pat 
ronize  the  drama  at  The  New  Theatre  is 
too  recent  for  unprejudiced  judgment. 
Tears,  mingled  with  laughter,  struggle  to 
prevent  commentary.  The  sight  of  our  bil 
lionaires  erecting  a  three-million-dollar  thea 
tre,  inadequate  for  anything  save  a  Drury 
Lane  spectacle,  and  then  turning  it  over  to 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   95 

the  administration  of  a  group  of  amateurs 
and  a  theatrical  speculator,  with  instruc 
tions  to  issue  gold  medals  to  deserving  for 
eign  actors,  and  to  otherwise  conserve  and 
uplift  the  stage,  is  too  painful  to  enlarge 
upon,  even  in  retrospect.  I  return  to  tribu 
lations  more  personal. 

On  my  own  first  "first  night"  in  New 
York  when  D'Arcy  presented  himself — or 
rather  when  Charles  Frohman  "presented" 
him — for  the  amusement  of  the  public,  the 
"omnium  gatherum"  was  present,  leavened 
in  spots  by  personal  friends  of  Miller  and 
my  own.  The  representatives  of  the  Law, 
State,  and  Society  sat  in  their  accustomed 
Tyson  seats ;  the  representatives  of  the  press, 
those  languid  arbiters  for  the  commonplace, 
lined  the  main  aisle;  I,  myself,  had  a  blurred 
vision  of  the  performance  from  the  back 
row.  My  usual  elation  on  such  an  occasion 
faded  away  and  was  succeeded  by  a  numb 
ness  that  seemed  to  paralyze  every  sense  but 
sight.  This  feeling  receded  at  certain  agon 
izing,  poignant  moments,  but,  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  interminable  evening,  all 


96   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

emotion  was  dormant,  and  I  was  simply 
coldly  and  critically  aware  that  I  had  placed 
a  great  burden  on  a  very  charming,  capable 
group  of  actors,  and  that  both  they  and  my 
self  were  being  treated  with  amiable  con 
sideration  by  a  large  audience.  At  the  end 
of  the  third  act  this  amiability  followed  the 
path  of  custom  and  broke  into  calls  for 
"author,  author";  but  a  sense  of  something, 
if  not  humor,  prevented  me  from  joining 
that  long  procession  of  ridiculous  figures 
that  from  time  to  time  on  the  slightest 
provocation  bow  their  frozen  acknowledg 
ments  to  the  perfunctory  plaudits  of  their 
first  night  audiences.  It  requires  the  imper 
tinence  of  an  Oscar  Wilde  or  the  imper 
turbability  of  an  Augustus  Thomas  to  tri 
umph  on  such  an  occasion.  Miller  very 
humorously  stood  sponsor  for  the  self-con 
scious  author  in  an  amusing  little  speech 
and  added  once  again  to  the  sum  of  the  obli 
gations  under  which  he  had  placed  me. 

If  the  first  three  acts  of  a  four-act  play 
happen  to  amuse  or  interest  an  audience,  the 
fourth  has  to  be  very  bad  to  spoil  the  earlier 


'ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   97 

impression.  Once  safely  by  the  climax  of 
your  story,  you  may  tie  up  the  struggling 
ends,  point  your  moral,  and  come  to  a  con 
clusion  without  the  fear  that  a  misstep  will 
plunge  you  into  the  abyss.  So  the  final 
curtain  fell  with  nothing  to  disturb  the  con 
viction  that  D'Arcy  was  at  least  considered 
a  presentable  figure.  He  was  mildly  amus 
ing  to  Law  and  the  State,  and  he  had  done 
nothing  to  affront  the  intelligence  of  So 
ciety;  our  personal  friends  were,  of  course, 
charmed,  and  there  was  no  further  lack  to 
our  pleasure  and  content  but  the  verdict  of 
that  omnipotent,  judicial  group,  the  news 
paper  critics.  For  that  we  had  to  wait  on 
the  morrow. 


CHAPTER   Vj 

NEITHER  Miller  nor  myself  spent  a 
sleepless  night  following  the  opening 
in  New  York.  We  felt  assured  that  the 
critics  would  hardly  care  to  break  so  modest 
a  moth-miller  on  their  butterfly-wheels,  and 
the  prevision  had  more  or  less  warrant  in 
the  event.  There  was  a  certain  condescen 
sion  in  the  best  of  the  notices,  and  lack  of 
comprehension  in  the  worst,  that  neither  ex 
alted  nor  depressed  us  very  much,  but,  when 
one  is  running  the  gauntlet,  stuffed  clubs 
are  preferable  to  bludgeons  and  we  felt  that 
we  had  come  through  the  ordeal  rather  for 
tunately. 

Despite  the  modest  reception  of  the  play, 

the  advertising  department  of  the  theatre 

broke  out  rashly  into  exclamation  points, 

and  the  usual  banalities  of  the  press-agent 

98 


HENRY  MILLER    AND    MISS     FLORENCE 
ROCKWELL  IN  "D^ARCY  OF  THE  GUARDS^ 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   99 

—"New  York  Surrenders!"  "The  Romance 
Hero  of  the  Day!"  "Second  Crowded 
Month!"  this  last,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
third  week,  were  but  a  few  of  the  absurdi 
ties.  However,  the  New  York  engagement 
served  its  chief  purpose  in  enabling  Miller 
to  book  an  excellent  tour  through  the  coun 
try. 

On  January  31st  he  wrote  me:  "I  have 
a  bully  route,  especially  for  you,  as  you  are 
not  concerned  in  the  railroad  fare.  Chi 
cago  ought  to  be  $9,000  and  Philadelphia 
$16,000  on  the  two  weeks,  so  I  see  you  driv 
ing  a  four-in-hand  soon.  That  is  the  goal 
of  my  ambition."  I  am  not  yet  driving  the 
coach  and  four,  but  I  am  glad  to  say  that 
he  is.  The  season  closed  at  the  Grand  Opera 
House,  New  York  City,  May  3rd,  after 
some  two  hundred  and  fifty  performances; 
and  since  then  by  various  stock  companies 
it  has  been  played  in  nearly  every  town  and 
city  in  the  country,  something  over  four 
hundred  times;  and  Mr.  Miller  himself  re 
vived  it  for  a  short  season,  with  Miss  Anglin 
playing  the  part  of  Pamela. 


100  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

All  of  which  betokens  a  certain  vitality,  a 
vitality  that  has  carried  the  play  through 
a  further  series  of  adventures  in  England, 
which  should  be  as  instructive  to  an  impa 
tient  and  perhaps  disappointed  dramatist  as 
anything  I  have  recounted  heretofore,  and 
which  I  will  now  proceed  to  relate. 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  before  I  could 
give  Miller  the  American  rights  to  the  piece, 
I  had  to  negotiate  with  Taber,  who  con 
trolled  them  for  both  America  and  England. 
The  matter  was  arranged  by  my  paying 
Taber  one  hundred  pounds  and  extending 
the  time  limit  of  production  in  England 
from  December  15th,  1902,  to  December 
15th,  1904,  on  which  date  if  he  had  not  pro 
duced  the  play  he  was  to  pay  a  forfeit  of 
one  hundred  pounds  on  December  29th, 
1903.  Two  years  after  the  original  produc 
tion  in  New  York  I  received  the  following 
note  from  Henry  Miller. 

My  dear  Louis, 

Do  you  control  "D'Arcy"  for  London?  If 
so,  I  believe  I  can  place  it  there.  Please 


ADVENTURES  0F  A  PLAY   101 

let  me  know  as  soon  as  possible.    Wishing 
you  a  happy  New  Year, 

Sincerely  yours, 

Henry  Miller. 

I  had  heard  indirectly  about  this  time 
that  Taber's  health  was  extremely  bad,  and 
that  it  was  possible  he  might  have  to  retire 
permanently  from  the  stage,  so  I  wrote  to 
Miller  that  I  would  communicate  at  once 
with  Taber  and  see  if  I  could  secure  from 
him  an  immediate  release  of  the  English 
rights.  To  my  inquiry  I  received  this  reply 
from  Taber: 

Arts  Club,  40  Dover  Street, 

Piccadilly,  W. 
My  dear  Shipman, 

Yes,  I'll  be  willing  to  make  the  arrange 
ment  you  suggest:  I  to  relinquish  the  Eng 
lish  rights  to  "D'Arcy,"  if  you  waive  the 
c£lOO  due  from  me  next  December.  With 
kindest  regards,  believe  me, 

tYours  faithfully, 

Robert  Taber. 


102   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Meanwhile  Miller  was  trying  to  find  out 
who  it  was  in  England  that  was  interested 
in  the  piece.  From  a  conversation  with 
Mrs.  Langtry  he  thought  it  was  Martin 
Harvey,  but  was  not  sure ;  however,  the  fol 
lowing  telegram  set  him  straight. 

San  Francisco,  January  14,  1904. 
Henry  Miller,  Players'  Club,  1ST.  Y. 

You  misunderstood  me.  It  is  Lewis  Wal 
ler,  Imperial  Theatre,  London,  who  wants 
to  read  the  play. 

Lillie  Langtry. 

So  the  following  day  I  wrote  to  Lewis 
Waller,  and  on  January  29th  received  the 
following  cable: 

London,  January  29,  1904. 
Shipman, 

Please  mail  manuscript, 

Waller. 

This  was  followed  ten  days  later  by  a  let 
ter  evidently  sent  just  before  the  cable. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  103 

Imperial  Theatre, 

January  28th,  1904. 
Louis  Evan  Shipman,  Esq., 
Dear  Sir, 

I  am  extremely  obliged  to  you  for  your 
letter  of  the  18th  inst.,  and  should  very  much 
like  to  read  your  play,  "D'Arcy  of  the 
Guards";  if  you  will  have  it  despatched  to 
me  here  by  return  mail,  I  will  read  it  at  once. 
To  be  perfectly  frank  with  you,  my  de 
cision  as  regards  a  production  will  depend 
on  the  royalties  you  ask.  So  may  I  ask  you 
to  make  them  as  low  as  possible  when  quot 
ing  to  me. 
I  am,  dear  sir, 

Yours  truly, 

Lewis  Waller. 

The  manuscript  was  immediately  for 
warded,  and  I  wrote  that  there  would  be 
no  discussion  about  terms,  as  I  would  ac 
cept  his  usual  fees 

It  was  less  than  three  weeks  when  I  re 
ceived  another  cable. 


104   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

London,  February  17th,  1904. 
Shipman,  Windsor,  Vermont. 

If  play  free  offer  200  pounds  advance 
fees  and  5  per  cent  all  through  British 
rights.  Cable  reply. 

Waller. 


I  did  not  understand  that  "if"  in  this  com 
munication,  but  I  cabled  immediately  my  ac 
ceptance.  Two  days  later  I' was  enlightened 
by  another  cable. 

London,  February  19th,  1904. 
Shipman,  Windsor,  Vermont. 

Marbury's  London  Office  affirms  Taber 
has  British  rights  till  next  December.  Kind 
ly  deny  or  confirm. 

Waller. 

To  which  I  replied:  "Taber  has  given  up 
rights.  Marbury's  office  has  nothing  to  do 
with  'D'Arcy'." 

I  did  not  know  at  this  time  that  Taber 
was  in  New  ^York,  on  what  proved  to  be  his 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   105 

last  journey  home,1  and  that  therefore  he 
had  not  received  my  acceptance  of  his  of- 

1  Taber  died  in  early  March,  1904,  and  I  wish  to  reprint 
here  the  only  too  slight  tribute  that  I  wrote  for  the  New 
York  Evening  Post. 

THE  DEATH  OF  ROBERT  TABER 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Evening  Post: 

Sir:  The  death  of  Robert  Taber  is  a  very  real  loss  to  the 
modern  stage.  It  seems  pitiable  always  that  with  the  end 
of  an  actor's  life  comes  the  end  of  all  that  he  has  striven 
for,  all  that  he  has  created.  To  the  vagrant,  fickle  memory 
of  his  contemporaries  only,  is  entrusted  the  fruition  of  his 
every  hope,  every  effort,  every  achievement.  All  other  ar 
tists:  musicians,  sculptors,  painters,  writers,  leave  some 
monument,  be  it  never  so  small,  for  posterity;  the  actor's 
memorial  can  be  but  the  intangible  recollections  of  those 
who  for  hours,  too  brief,  have  been  under  his  spell.  Such 
remembrances  of  Taber's  work,  however,  for  those  to  whom 
it  in  any  way  appealed,  must  be  of  the  warmest  and  most 
vivid. 

From  the  days  of  his  eager  apprenticeship  with  Modjeska, 
through  the  middle  period  of  his  association  with  Julia 
Marlowe,  to  the  final  expression  of  his  ripened  art  during 
the  last  few  years  in  London,  Taber  was  a  figure,  a  per 
sonality  second  to  none  among  the  younger  actors  of 
America  and  England.  Combined  with  physical  qualities  of 
much  attractiveness  and  a  beautiful  voice  were  a  technical 
dexterity  that  was  most  extraordinary,  and  a  peculiar  cool, 
intellectual  poise  and  deliberation.  The  list  of  his  char 
acterizations,  in  these  days  of  the  long  "run,"  was  of  un 
usual  length  and  importance,  and  testifies  alike  to  his  versa 
tility,  industry  and  artistic  restlessness.  With  ideals  for 


106   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

fer  to  release  the  play.  Neither  could  I 
understand  the  interference  of  Miss  Mar- 
bury 's  London  office  in  a  matter  with  which 
they  had  no  concern.  I  understood  better 
later  on.  The  following  week  I  learned 
from  the  following  telegram  that  Taber  was 
in  America. 

New  York,  February  24,  1904. 
Louis  Evan  Shipman, 

Advised  from  London  office  you  are  clos 
ing  with  Waller,  "D'Arcy."  Taber  owns  till 
December.  Taber  here,  should  see  him.  Ur 
gent. 

Elisabeth  Marbury. 

I  at  once  wrote  to  Taber  explaining  the 
situation,  and  received  word  from  his  at 
torney  and  close  friend,  Mr.  Charles  C.  Bur- 
lingham,  as  follows: 

the  theatre  of  the  very  highest  he  was  stricken  at  a  time 
when  the  opportunity  for  their  amplest  expression  was  just 
within  his  hand.  Regret  for  this  is  in  some  part  assuaged 
by  knowledge  of  his  very  large  and  very  admirable  accom 
plishment.  May  those  to  whom  the  history  of  the  American 
theatre  is  matter  for  pride  not  soon  forget  one  who  repre 
sented  and  carefully  protected  its  best  tradition. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   107 

New  York,  March  2nd,  1904. 
My  dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

Your  telegram  and  letter  I  have  received. 
I  am  sorry  there  has  been  so  much  trouble 
about  "D'Arcy."  Cables  have  been  flying  be 
tween  Miss  Marbury's  London  and  New 
York  office,  and  as  Taber  is  pretty  sick  I 
have  not  bothered  him  with  them  and  have 
tried  to  work  it  out  by  my  feeble  recollec 
tion  of  conversation  with  him.  Your  tele 
gram  made  it  perfectly  clear  and  I  tele 
phoned  to  Miss  Marbury  to  that  effect.  As 
you  suggest  I  have  prepared  a  mutual  re 
lease  and  will  have  Robert  execute  one  for 
you.  I  haven't  the  contract  by  me,  so  made 
it  in  general  terms.  Robert  says  Waller  is 
a  first-rate  man,  and  no  doubt  the  play  will 
be  a  great  success. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Charles  C.  Burlingham. 

This  settled  conclusively  the  possession  of 
the  foreign  rights,  and  the  letter  which  fol 
lows  explains  how  Miss  Marbury's  London 
representative  disingenuously  tried  to  place 


108  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

himself  in  the  position  of  sponsor  for  the 
sale  of  the  play  to  Lewis  Waller. 

New  York,  March  1, 1904. 
Dear  Mr.  Shipman: 

I  have  been  in  receipt  of  several  cables 
and  letters  from  my  London  representative 
in  regard  to  the  English  rights  of  "D'Arcy 
of  the  Guards."     When  Mr.  Taber  was 
abroad  he  put  the  matter  of  subletting  the 
piece  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  R.  Golding  Bright, 
at  the  head  of  my  London  office.     Mr. 
Bright  got  in  communication  with  Mr.  Mar 
tin  Harvey  and  while  negotiations  with  him 
were  still  pending  Mr.  Waller  spoke  to  Mr. 
Bright  in  regard  to  the  play,  and  later  in 
formed  Mr.  Bright  that  you  had  accepted 
Waller's  offer  of  200  pounds  in  advance  of 
5%.    Mr.  Bright  then  cabled  to  me  to  see 
both  you  and  Mr.  Taber,  as  the  latter  had 
the  English  rights  until  December.    It  was 
at  that  time  I  wrote  you  and  received  your 
reply  that  you  had  settled  the  matter  with 
Mr.  Taber.    Now,  Mr.  Taber's  representa 
tive,  Mr.  Burlingham,  informed  me  that 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   109 

no  arrangements  had  been  made  between 
you  and  Mr.  Taber  by  which  he  was  to  re 
linquish  his  English  rights,  although  there 
had  been  considerable  correspondence  in 
the  matter.  He  says  that  Mr.  Taber  orig 
inally  made  a  proposition  to  you  to  release 
him  but  that  you  refused  him  such  release. 
This  was  the  position  up  to  this  morning 
and  in  consequence  I  have  been  unable  to 
cable  Mr.  Bright  stating  whether  or  not 
Waller  was  free  to  go  ahead  with  his  plans 
for  "D'Arcy,"  which  he  wished  for  imme 
diate  production.  This  morning  I  received 
a  telephone  message  from  Mr.  Burlingham, 
saying  that  he  had  received  a  cable  sent  by 
you  to  Taber,  forwarded  from  London, 
which  reads  to  the  effect  that  you  released 
him  in  regard  to  "D'Arcy"  under  these  cir 
cumstances,  therefore  the  piece  reverts  to 
you  and  I  have  cabled  Mr.  Bright  that  Wal 
ler  is  at  liberty  to  go  ahead.  The  compli 
cations  in  the  matter  arose  from  the  fact, 
I  presume,  that  you  refused  a  release  to 
Taber  in  the  first  place  and  he  accordingly, 
not  desiring  to  make  a  production  himself. 


110  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

put  the  matter  of  leasing  the  piece  in  Mr. 
Blight's  hands.    When  the  word  came  from 
Waller  that  you  had  accepted  his  offer  Mr. 
Bright  naturally  could  not  understand  how 
such  could  be  the  case  when  he  knew  Ta- 
ber  was  owner  of  the  English  rights  until 
December.    As  I  could  not  definitely  find 
out  until  this  morning  that  you  had  released 
Taber  I  was  unable  to  solve  the  difficulty 
under  which  Mr.  Bright  was  laboring.  Now, 
as  you  will  readily  see,  I  have  in  reality  been 
representing  your  interests  in  finding  out 
from  Mr.  Taber  about  the  release  and  in 
making  clear  the  situation  to  Mr.  Bright 
so  that  Mr.  Waller  need  not  be  tied  up  in  re 
gard  to  the  piece.    Under  the  circumstances 
I  trust  that  you  will  allow  us  to  continue 
to  represent  your  interests  when  "D'Arcy" 
is  finally  produced  in  England,  as  the  work 
up  to  now  has  been  passing  through  our 
hands.    It  is  needless  to  assure  you  that  we 
will  watch  your  interests  conscientiously  and 
carefully.    I  shall  esteem  it  a  favor  if  you 
will  let  me  know  your  decision  as  to  my 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    111 

position,  so  that  I  may  cable  Mr.  Bright 
definitely. 

,With  kind  regards, 
[Yours  sincerely, 

Elisabeth  Marbury. 

I  have  described  Mr.  R.  Golding  Bright's 
attitude  in  the  matter  as  disingenuous  as 
he  never  could  have  had  the  piece  for  dis 
posal  in  England.  Paragraph  six  of  my 
contract  with  Taber,  which  I  have  printed 
further  on,  expressly  stipulates  that  he,  Ta 
ber,  "shall  not  at  any  time  or  under  any  cir 
cumstances  sublet  any  of  the  rights  under 
this  contract  or  any  portion  of  such  rights 
nor  transfer  this  contract  to  any  other  party 
at  any  time  or  under  any  circumstances  with 
out  the  written  consent  of  the  said  party 
of  the  first  part  or  his  authorized  agent." 
In  the  circumstances  therefore  I  hardly  felt 
justified  in  paying  to  Miss  Mar  bury 's  of 
fice  a  fee  of  ten  per  cent,  on  all  my  royalties, 
simply  because  Mr.  R.  Golding  Bright  had 
been  more  zealous  than  serviceable.  As  the 
event  turned  out  it  would  probably  have 


112   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

been  much  better  for  the  fortunes  of  D'Arcy 
in  England,  if  I  had  consented  to  this  in 
direct  request  for  baksheesh. 

Arrangements  with  Waller  were  com 
pleted  on  receipt  of  the  following  letter, 
dated  February  20,  1904: 

Imperial  Theatre. 
Louis  Evan  Shipman,  Esq., 

Dear  Sir, 

I  am  obliged  by  your  prompt  reply  to  my 
cablegram.  I  enclose  a  copy  of  my  firm  of 
fer  to  you,  and  your  reply  by  cable,  notify 
ing  the  acceptance  of  these  terms.  I  am 
somewhat  relieved  at  your  answers  to  my 
query  of  yesterday.  I  now  beg  to  confirm 
cablegrams.  I  think  it  will  be  better  for  you 
to  have  the  agreement  drawn  up  in  America, 
which  as  far  as  I  can  see  need  only  be  of  a 
very  simple  character.  I  give  you  £200  in 
advance  fees  for  the  above  play;  the  royal 
ties  to  be  5%  all  through  on  the  gross 
weekly  receipts,  to  be  paid  weekly  to  you 
or  your  authorized  agent;  the  play  to  be  my 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   113 

property  for  Great  Britain,  Ireland  and  the 
British  Colonies  (Canada  excepted). 

Perhaps  in  your  reply  you  will  state  to 
whom  I  am  to  hand  the  £200,  or  if  you 
would  prefer  it  sent  over  to  you  direct. 

I  agree  to  announce  your  name  as  sole 
author  of  the  play  in  all  programmes,  pos 
ters,  and  other  advertising  matter. 

When  sending  the  agreement  for  signa 
ture,  I  shall  require  to  have  Taher's  agree 
ment  duly  cancelled  and  handed  over  to  me. 

Trusting    our    negotiations    may    prove 
profitable  to  us  both,  I  am,  dear  sir, 
Faithfully  yours, 

Lewis  Waller. 

Financially  our  negotiations  turned  out 
to  be  not  particularly  profitable  but  as  an 
addition  to  the  sum  of  theatrical  experience 
the  gain  was  incalculable.  I  think  any  young 
author  on  the  definiteness  of  the  proposals 
in  the  foregoing  letter  might  be  pardoned 
for  a  stray  vision  or  two,  and  that  they  re 
mained  visions  untranslated  into  anything 
approaching  reality  may  be  judged  by  an- 


114  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

other  cable  from  London,  dated  April  4th, 
1904.    It  reads: 

Find  impossible  produce  play.    Will  you 
accept  forfeit  and  all  rights.    Cable  terms. 

Waller. 


And  in  reply  to  my  answer  came  a  letter 
which  I  was  enabled  to  understand  by  the 
R.  Golding  Bright  light  which  shone  upon 
it. 

Imperial  Theatre, 

9th  April,  1904. 
Louis  Evan  Shipman,  Esq., 

Dear  Sir, 

Mr.  Lewis  Waller  desires  me  to  thank 
you  for  your  cable  saying  that  you  will  ac 
cept  £100  forfeit  and  all  rights  in  D'Arcy 
of  the  Guards.  Mr.  Lewis  Waller  wishes 
me  to  express  to  you  his  great  regret  at  not 
seeing  his  way  to  produce  your  play,  but  he 
found  at  the  finish  that  it  was  too  slight  for 
this  theatre.  He  thinks  and  hopes  you  will 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   115 

have  no   difficulty  in  placing  it  in  other 
hands. 

[Yours  faithfully, 

Lyston  Lyle. 

All  of  which'  made  for  patience,  equanim 
ity  and  the  quiet  mind,  but  also,  on  my 
part,  for  a  mild  curiosity;  and  when  it  was 
announced  that  Waller  would  produce  an 
other  Colonial  play,  "Elizabeth's  Prisoner" 
instead  of  "D'Arcy,"  I  made  inquiry  of  a 
friend  in  London  as  to  the  reason,  if  any, 
for  the  sudden  alteration  of  plan.  I  quote 
from  the  reply:  "Waller  weakened  on  'Eliz 
abeth's  Prisoner'  after  New  York,  and  his 
syndicate  followed — then  they  read  D'Arcy 
and  over  strongly  urged  it,  and  somehow  got 
Waller's  back  up.  The  authors  of  'E.  P.' 
and  Marbury  did  the  rest." 

Mild  curiosity  was  mildly  satisfied  and 
rather  obvious  surmise  justified. 

Mr.  James  K.  Hackett  at  this  tim^  sug 
gested  that  I  turn  the  play  over  to  his  repre 
sentative  in  London,  Mr.  Frank  Mills, 


116   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

which  I  did  with  instructions  to  use  his  own 
judgment.  I  had  no  suggestions  to  offer; 
in  fact  I  was  filled  with  a  curious  dubiety 
after  the  strange  elusion  of  Waller,  but 
with  little  foundation  as  may  be  seen  from 
the  following  cable: 

London,  May  28,  1904. 
Arranged  with  Alexander  following 
terms:  Two  hundred  pounds  advance,  five 
per  cent,  to  seven  hundred,  seven  and  half 
next  three,  ten  all  over.  Not  later  than  third 
production.  Cable  approval. 

Mills. 

"Not  later  than  third  production"  meant 
that  Mr.  Alexander — now  Sir  Georges-had 
the  privilege,  according  to  the  agreement, 
of  making  two  productions  before  he  did 
"D'Arcy."  This  was  agreeable  to  me,  so  the 
contracts  were  signed,  the  two  hundred 
pounds  advance  on  royalties  paid,  and  the 
"death  watch"  set  on  the  programme  of 
the  St.  James's  Theatre.  Time  slipped  by, 
as  it  will  even  when  one  is  waiting,  and  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   117 

second  production  succeeded  the  first  at  the 
beautiful  little  theatre  in  King  Street.  Anx 
iously  I  scanned  the  columns  of  the  London 
Era  every  week  for  the  beatified  announce 
ment,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  the  tan 
talizing  occupation  was  rendered  useless  by 
word  from  Mills  that  Alexander  had 
changed  his  mind,  given  up  the  idea  of  pro 
ducing  the  play,  and  would  forfeit  the  two 
hundred  pounds. 

It  is  M.  Bergson,  I  think,  who  tells  us 
that  the  poignancy  of  disappointment  is  les 
sened  and  rendered  innocuous  by  constant 
repetition.  I  wonder  if  M.  Bergson  has  ever 
written  a  play,  sold  it,  and  then  feverishly 
for  weeks  devoured  the  department  headed 
"Theatrical  Gossip"  in  the  Era,  only  to  find 
that  that  "gossip"  never  had  any  concern 
with  himself  or  his  play,  and  never  prob 
ably  would  have? 


CHAPTER  VI 

WTH  the  lapsing  of  the  Alexander 
contract,  my  hopes  and  interest  in 
a  London  production  of  the  piece  faded  to 
nothing,  to  be  slightly  fanned  into  flame 
by  a  letter  such  as  the  following,  which  Mills 
forwarded  to  me: 

Dublin,  Nov.  8th,  1905. 

My  dear  Mills, 

I  read  the  play  some  little  time  ago  and 
thought  it  charming  but  thin.  Am  I  to  un 
derstand  that  you  have  the  disposal  of  the 
play,  and  if  so  will  you  tell  me  what  the 
terms  are? 

With  kind  regards,  believe  me, 
Sincerely  yours, 

Martin  Harvey. 
118 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  119 

"D'Arcy's"  thinness  must  have  overcome 
his  charm,  for  I  heard  nothing  further  from 
Mr.  Harvey. 

Time  slipped  by  as  it  will  even  when  one 
isn't  waiting;  more  plays  were  written  and 
produced,  failed  and  succeeded.  "D'Arcy" 
was  forgotten  and  neglected,  save  on  occa 
sion  when  he  emerged  and  was  played  by 
the  young  ladies  of  Bryn  Mawr  and  Bar 
nard  Colleges,  or  filled  a  week's  engagement 
in  stock  in  Salt  Lake  City  or  Portland, 
Maine.  Four  years  passed,  and  then  Henry 
Miller,  destined  always  for  "D'Arcy's"  tute 
lary  sponsor,  once  more  intervened. 

He  was  playing  an  engagement  in  Lon 
don  at  the  Adelphi,  and  meeting  Alexander 
asked  him  why  he  had  never  produced  the 
piece;  and  whatever  else  he  may  have  said 
resulted  in  the  following  cablegram,  with 
which  I  was  startled  one  autumn  afternoon. 

London,  Nov.  11,  1909. 
Louis  Evan  Shipman, 

Wish  to  do  "D'Arcy"  next  new  produc 
tion,  terms  of  our  old  contract  two  hundred 


120   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

already   paid   being   in   advance   of   fees. 
Alexander, 
St.  James's  Theatre, 

London. 

Which  meant  that  the  two  hundred 
pounds  advanced  under  the  old  contract, 
and  forfeited,  was  to  apply  on  the  new. 
This  suggestion  was  acceptable  and  I  so  re 
plied,  asking  for  the  probable  date  of  pro 
duction;  to  which  the  cabled  answer  was, 
"February" ;  a  period  at  which  not  even  im 
patience  could  cavil. 

The  following  letters  which  came  closely 
on  the  above  cable  were  a  prelude  to  the 
most  pleasurable  experience  I  have  ever  had 
in  my  profession.  After  a  good  many  years, 
more  or  less  occupied  with  the  affairs  of  the 
American  theatre,  there  was  a  strange, 
revelatory  surprise  in  having  a  play  dis 
cussed,  not  in  the  terms  of  the  market-place, 
but  from  the  point  of  view  of  one  artist  to 
another.  Consideration,  tact,  and  sympa 
thetic  appreciation  were  shown  at  every  turn 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   121 

by  Sir  George  Alexander  and  his  group  of 
able  assistants,  in  everything  connected  with 
the  production  of  the  play. 

London, 
Nov.  21, 1909.  57,  Pont  Street, 

S.W. 
Dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

I  am  so  glad  to  be  doing  your  play.  I 
shall  try  to  make  it  a  perfect  picture  of  the 
Georgian  period.  My  friend,  Mr.  Percy 
Macquoid,  who  is  a  great  authority  on  the 
period,  will  design  the  scenes.  We  have  a 
general  election  here  in  January  and  until 
that  is  over  things  will  be  very  difficult,  the 
public  will  be  thinking  only  of  politics.  I 
shall  make  it  my  first  production  after  the 
election.  Will  you  send  me  another  copy  of 
the  play,  and  any  useful  information  in  re 
gard  to  it;  also  a  copy  of  the  novel.  Per 
haps  you  may  be  able  to  come  over  yourself. 
Miller  has  been  good  enough  to  say  he  will 
give  me  any  help  he  can.  The  part  is  most 
attractive  and  I  think  my  public  will  like 
me  in  it.  Is  there  any  handsome  and  ac- 


122   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

complished   young   American   actress   you 
could  recommend  for  Pamela?    Yours, 

George  Alexander. 

Toll  Gate  Cottage, 
26,  Dec.  1909.  Charleywood, 

Herts. 
Dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

Thank  you  for  the  book  and  the  copy  of 
the  play.  Has  the  novel  ever  been  published 
in  England,  if  not  could  I  arrange  for  the 
publication  at  about  the  same  time  as  the 
production  of  the  play — I  think  the  one 
would  help  the  other.  Don't  you  think  the 
little  quarrel  between  Dacier  and  D'Arcy 
on  page  196  is  a  good  incident  for  the  stage 
and  might  be  introduced  with  advantage? 
I  do.  I  think  it  will  be  well  to  have  a  real 
darkle  for  Sambo. 

The  models  of  scenes  for  acts  1  and  2  are 
completed — they  are  both  delightful — the 
garden  and  house  quite  a  thing  of  beauty. 
Macquoid  has  done  beautiful  sketches  for 
costumes. 

I  have  a  great  success  in  my  revival  of 


COSTUME  PLATE  FOR  'VARCY  OF  THE  GUARDS ' 
BY  PERCY  MACQUOID,  R.  I. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    123 

"The  Importance  of  Being  Earnest,"  it 
looks  like  running  for  some  time.  I  will 
write  you  when  I  put  the  play  in  rehearsal. 

Yours  truly, 
George  Alexander. 

The  opportunity  of  going  to  London  for 
a  few  weeks  came  at  this  time  and  I  arrived 
there  about  the  middle  of  January.  It  had 
been  twenty  years  since,  as  an  impression 
able  fascinated  lad,  I  had  inhaled  deep 
draughts  of  delicious  smoke-laden  air,  wan 
dered  helplessly  dazed  but  ecstatic  in  and 
out  the  throngs  of  Piccadilly  and  the 
Strand,  and  followed  the  time-worn  Ameri 
can  round  of  the  Tower,  the  Museum,  and 
the  National  Gallery  for  the  first  time.  And 
as  I  slipped  around  the  corner  from  my  ho 
tel  in  Arlington  Street,  that  first  night  of 
landing,  and  bought  a  seat  in  the  stalls  of 
the  St.  James's,  I  remembered  back  those 
twenty  years  to  another  evening  and  another 
theatre — the  Avenue,  I  think — when  I  wit 
nessed  George  Alexander's  first  venture  as 
an  actor-manager  in  "Dr.  Bill." 


124   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

There  had  been  many  ventures  in  those 
two  decades  since  the  modest  and  successful 
experiment  with  anglicized  French  comedy, 
and  as  I  sat  that  evening  watching  the  very 
admirable  performance  of  the  best  farce 
that  has  ever  been  written,  memory  drifted 
back  with  growing  trepidation  over  the  fa 
mous  group  that  had  first  come  to  life  on 
the  stage  before  me:  Guy  Domville,  Lord 
Windermere,  Aubrey  Tanqueray,  Sir 
George  Lamorant,  Lord  St.  Qrbyn,  Sir 
Valentine  Fellowes,  the  Idler,  Rassendyl, 
Villon,  besides  a  host  of  distinguished 
others ;  and  I  seemed  to  see  and  hear  the  in 
imitable  John  Worthing,  gaily,  quizzically 
introducing  to  them  a  slender,  booted  figure, 
in  scarlet  coat,  and  cockaded  beaver,  the  hilt 
of  his  sword  and  his  brass  gorget  gleaming 
romantically.  "This,  gentleman,"  he  said, 
"is  Major  D''Arcy  of  the  Guards,  whose 
excuse  for  being  in  such  a  company  as  this 
I  have  been  unable  to  discover.  However, 
as  it  is  something  a  matter  of  hands — and 
arms  across  the  sea,  and  the  color  of  his 
coat  is  correct,  I  commend  him  to  you."  To 


SIR  GEORGE  ALEXANDER  AS 
MAJOR  D'ARCY 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   125 

which  the  abashed  young  Irishman  had 
nothing  to  say,  although  I  could  have 
prompted  him  to  reply  very  wittily. 

The  imaginary  scene,  however,  decided 
me  firmly  on  one  thing  as  I  walked  up  St. 
James's  Street  after  the  performance  of 
"The  Importance  of  Being  Earnest":  I 
would  write  to  Alexander  in  the  morning 
desiring  to  be  released  from  my  contract; 
modesty  and  good  sense  forbade  the  intru 
sion  of  so  naive  a  puppet  as  D'Arcy  into 
such  a  galaxy.  "What  the  devil  would  he  be 
doing  in  that  galley?"  But  modesty  and 
common  sense  disappeared  in  the  night  and 
that  following  afternoon  I  read  the  play  to 
Alexander  and  his  stage-manager,  Vivian 
Reynolds.  Reference  has  been  made  to  the 
unusual  sensation  of  discussing  a  play  with 
an  actor  and  a  manager,  as  if  it  were  a  work 
of  art  and  not  merely  a  "show"  with  "a 
punch  in  it,"  and  I  must  allude  again  to  the 
unfailing  consideration  and  understanding 
with  which  Sir  George  Alexander  treated 
my  little  comedy.  My  stay  in  London  being 
necessarily  brief,  he  had  the  scenes  set  up 


126   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

for  me  in  the  theatre  one  afternoon,  and 
the  band  assembled  to  play  the  music  which 
he  had  had  arranged  for  the  production. 
Everything  was  done,  which  could  be  done, 
to  spoil  an  American  playwright  for  the  in 
exorable  conditions  that  confront  him  in  his 
own  country;  conditions  that  are  mitigated 
only  by  a  rare  few. 

Notwithstanding  the  complete  prepara 
tions  for  "D'Arcy,"  the  success  of  the  revival 
of  "The  Importance  of  Being  Earnest" 
called  for  postponement  of  any  new  pro 
duction,  and  I  sailed  for  America  with 
mixed  feelings  of  disappointment  and  grati 
fication,  and  treasuring  the  remembrance  of 
courtesies  and  hospitality  that  will  last  al 
ways.  Shortly  after  my  return  I  received 
the  following  note: 

57  Pont  Street, 

March  1st.  S.  W. 

Dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

I  am  glad  you  have  pleasant  dreams  of 
your  London  visit,  and  hope  we  may  see  you 
again  ere  long.  "Ernest"  still  goes  swim- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   127 

mingly  and  looks  like  lasting  the  season  out. 
I  hope  the  dear  public  will  do  the  same  for 
"D'Arcy."  My  wife  joins  me  in  kindest  re 
membrances, 

Yours  sincerely, 
George  Alexander. 

And  a  month  later  this : 

St.  James's  Theatre, 
King  Street,  St.  James's,  S.  W. 
My  dear  Louis  Shipman, 

"Ernest"  is  now  safe  for  the  season,  so 
our  little  venture  will  be  my  first  autumn 
production.  After  much  consideration  I 
have  engaged  Miss  Evelyn  D'Alroy — a 
beautiful  woman  and  a  charming  actress,  for 
Pamela.  She  has  just  played  the  lead  in 
"The  OTlynn,"  with  Tree,  and  also  Ophe 
lia  and  Portia  with  great  success  and  she 
is  a  find..  My  present  idea  is  to  rehearse  the 
play  during  latter  part  of  June  and  begin 
ning  of  July,  then  to  go  for  a  holiday  and 
return  at  end  of  August,  and  produce  in 
September.  I  hope  that  my  present  luck 


128  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY] 

will  continue,  and  that  we  shall  have  a  suc 
cess  together.  With  kind  remembrances,  I 
am,  yours  sincerely, 

George  Alexander. 

Expectations  were  fused  into  certainty; 
"D'Arcy"  still  remained  the  arch  procrasti- 
nator,  but  letters  from  time  to  time  remind 
ed  me  that  he  was  in  good  hands. 

Toll  Gate  Cottage, 
May  24.  Charleywood, 

Herts. 
My  dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

I  am  glad  you  liked  Miss  D'Alroy.  I 
think  she  will  be  excellent  and  she  is  so 
pretty.  I  shall  begin  rehearsals  soon  and 
get  the  play  in  good  trim  before  my  holiday 
and  finish  it  off  on  my  return.  I  have  writ 
ten  Miller  asking  him  if  he  is  coming  over 
in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  able  to  see  one 
or  two  of  the  rehearsals.  King  George  is 
on  the  throne  now  and  the  name  will  in 
spire  even  more  enthusiasm  in  the  future. 
It  has  been  a  sorry  time  for  theatrical  man- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    129 

agers  during  the  last  fortnight.     My;  wife 
joins  me  in  kind  remembrances. 

Yours  sincerely, 
George  Alexander. 

Balmoral  Lodge, 
Aug.  17, 1910.     ,        Strathpeffer  Spa, 

N.  B. 
My  dear  Shipman, 

Here  I  am  amongst  the  grouse  and  hav 
ing  a  good  holiday  and  studying  "D'Arcy." 
I  return  to  London  (where  please  address 
me)  on  the  3rd  of  September,  and  your  play 
will  see  the  light  shortly  afterwards.  The 
company  is  very  good  and  I  am  sure  you 
will  like  the  performance.  Miss  D'Alroy 
quite  excellent,  Barnes  A.  1.,  and  the  others 
fit  in  the  general  scheme.  We  rehearsed 
the  scenery,  lighting  and  costumes  before  I 
left,  and  now,  after  three  weeks'  work,  your 
dear  little  play  will  be  ready  for  the  pub 
lic.  I  think  they  will  like  it.  I  hope  you 
may  be  able  to  come  over  and  see  it. 
Yours  sincerely, 

George  Alexander. 


130   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

I  shall  always  regret  that  I  was  unable 
to  go  over  to  see  it,  but  imagination  pre 
figured  it  very  brightly  on  that  Tuesday 
evening,  September  27th,  1910,  when  the 
first  performance  was  given  at  the  St. 
James's  with  the  cast  which  appears  on  fol 
lowing  page. 

I  well  remember,  years  ago,  Clyde  Fitch 
telling  me  of  his  sensation  on  the  night  when 
Mrs.  John  Wood  produced  at  the  Court 
Theatre,  "Pamela's  Prodigy,"  his  first  play 
to  be  done  in  London.  Those  were  unpros- 
perous  days  for  him,  it  was  in  189.1;  but 
ill-luck  and  meagre  days  had  been  dreamed 
away  before  the  curtain  rose  that  night,  and 
as  he  hung  over  the  balcony  rail,  eager  and 
confident,  visions  of  luxury  and  reputation 
floated  before  him.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
act  he  gave  up  his  private  hansom;  at  the 
end  of  the  second  he  discharged  his  valet, 
and  when  the  final  curtain  fell  he  surren 
dered  his  flat  in  the  Albany,  and  returned 
to  his  simple  lodgings,  wondering  where  the 
passage  money  was  coming  from  to  take  him 
back  to  New  York! 


THIS   EVENING,   TUESDAY,    SEPT.  27th,  191O,  at  8 

WILL   BE   ACTED 

D'ARCY  OF  THE  GUARDS 


A  Comedy,  in  Four  Acts, 


Captained  Colonel  *  Mr.  GEORGE  ALEXANDER 

The  Hon.  John  D'Arcy  \    ,          Tht  ^  CornwaUh  \ 

Brigadier-General  /      Commanding  tte  Brigade  of      )     Mf>  STEPHEN  T.  EWART 

Sir  Edward  Jennison,  K.B.\  Foot-Guards 

Captain  and  Colonel  Dalrymple  (of  the  First  Regiment  of  Foot*Guards)  Mr.  ASHTON   PEARSE 
Captain  and  Lieut.-Colonel  Dacier        ,  /  Mr.  RUPERT  LISTER 

Captain  and  Lieut.-Colonel  Kelter         I  aM  ,        f     Mr.  DAVID  DARRELL 

Captain  and  Lieut.-Colone.  De  Courcy  l^SfXflSSSfi/  \  Mr*  JOHN   H°°D 
Captain  and  Lieut..  Colonel  Pollock       f  Foot&Zrds  }  Mr.  ROBERT  ANDERSON 

Captain  and  Lieut-Colonel  Walsh  I  Mr.  HENRY  CLEMENTS 

Captain  and  Ueut-Coloncl  Farquhar    > 


Dr.  Gregory        ..    (Surgeon  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Foot-Guards)    Mr.  J.  H.  BARNES 
Sergeant  Tripp    ..............   Mr.  GERALD  AMES 

Captain  Millhausen  \  „     .     „-  /Mr.  T.  WEGUELIN 

Catain  Raab  }  "      £telfl"  °^'    "  \Mr.  STUART  DENN 


Captain  Henry  Townshend       **  * 


Samuel  Davis  -  ..      (of  the  Society  of  Friends)      .  Mr.  ARTHUR    ROYSTON 

Sambo  .  -•     (Servant  at  the  Townshends'}   ..  Mr.  S.  SPENCER 

Mrs.  Townshend  ............  Mrs.  G.  KEMMIS 

Pamela  Townshend  ..  ..  (her  Daughter^  ..  Miss  EVELYN   D'ALROY 

Cynthia  Deane  ..  -     (her  Niece)    .  ..  Miss  MARGERY  MAUDE 

Act     I.    Garden  of  the  Townshend  House,  Philadelphia.    Afternoon 
Act   II.  Sitting-room  of  the  Townshend  House    ...       Morning 

Two  months  have  elapsod. 

Act  III.       ...    The  Same         ............    The  same  night 

Act  IV.       ...     The  Same          ............  Morning 

_  Five  weeks  have  elapsed.  _  _______  _ 

Th«  entire  action  of  the  play  takes  place  In  Philadelphia  during  its  occupation  by  the  British 
troops,  under  General  the  Hon.  Sir  William  Howe,  K.B.,  and  Lieut.-Qeneral  The  Earl  Cornwallis, 
In  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1777-8.  General  Washington  and  the  American  army  were  encamped 
twenty  miles  from  Philadelphia  at  Valley  Forge. 

NOTC-lt  was  the  privilege  of  officers  of  the  Foot-Guards  at  thie  period  to  hold  a  superior  rank  In 
the  Arm»  to  their  regimental  rank,  Captains,  for  instance,  being:  Colonels  or  Liout-Coioneis  In  the  Army. 

The  Scenery  and  Costumes  from  designs  by'  Mr.  PERCY  MACQUOID.  R.I.  _ 

THE   SCENERY    PAINTED    BY   W.    RAPHAEL. 

131 


132    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Although  I  had  none  of  Fitch's  justifica 
tions  for  uneasiness,  the  age  of  private  han 
soms,  and  smart  lodgings  having  been  safe 
ly  passed,  yet  there  always  hovers  around 
a  first  "production"  that  trepidation  which 
only  the  hazards  of  the  theatre  can  engen 
der.  And  while  this  was  somewhat  tem 
pered,  for  it  is  difficult  to  summon  vividly 
to  the  service  of  a  twelve-year-old  play, 
hopes  and  anxieties  that  have  long  since 
spent  their  force,  been  realized  and  dis 
pelled,  still  there  was  enough  potency  in  the 
ideas  of  "London/'  "the  St.  James's,"  and 
"Alexander,"  to  produce  a  pleasant  agita 
tion. 

Fortunate  it  was  that  hopes  had  little  vi 
tality  and  that  anxieties  had  no  deep  con 
cern  in  the  event,  for  the  cable  despatches 
in  the  next  day's  New  York  papers  presaged 
no  very  great  success;  and  they  were  cor 
roborated  a  week  later  by  the  following  let 
ter: 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    133 

28  Sept.  57  Pont  Street, 

S.  W. 
My  dear  Shipman, 

The  play  is  too  simple  for  the  modern 
critic.  The  press  has  gone  for  it.  I  am 
sure  you  would  be  pleased  with  the  pro 
duction  and  acting.  I  hope  it  may  interest 
for  a  time  but  there  is  no  run  in  it.  Kind 
est  remembrances  in  which  my  wife  unites. 
Yours  sincerely, 

George  Alexander. 

And  this  from  Alexander's  general  man 
ager: 

St.  James's  Theatre, 

King  Street, 
St.  James's,  S.  W., 

October  4th,  1910. 
Dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

The  outlook,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  not  very 
bright.  Why,  I  don't  know.  The  audi 
ences  seem  to  like  the  play,  judging  by  the 
way  it  is  received  at  every  performance,  but 
unfortunately  we  are  not  doing  anything 
like  the  business  we  should.  Personally,  I 


134    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

am  exceedingly  sorry,  as  I  really  thought 
there  would  be  a  good  public  for  such  a 
bright,  pretty  and  interesting  play. 
Kindest  regards, 

Yours  sincerely, 

Charles  T.  H't  Helmsley. 

D'Arcy  of  the  Guards  was  given  at  the 
St.  James's  forty-eight  times.  The  unan 
imity  of  the  critics  was  too  much  even  for  the 
popularity  of  Sir  George  Alexander.  He 
gave  the  play  every  opportunity  that  it 
should  have  had:  a  splendid  cast,  a  very 
beautiful  production,  and  time  to  make  its 
way  with  the  public.  But  while  it  was  in 
no  way  a  fiasco,  or  the  receipts  inconsider 
able,  yet  the  box-office,  only  barometer  of 
the  theatre,  gave  invariable  signs  of  falling, 
not  rising,  interest.  The  critical  reviews,  if 
not  sympathetic,  were  very  just,  although 
there  was  an  irritating  iteration  in  all  of 
them,  relative  to  the  play's  American  or 
igin;  the  one  prejudice  that  the  British  dra 
matic  critic  allows  himself  to  retain  and  nur 
ture  carefully.  Our  state  is  much  the  more 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   133 

gracious  in  this  respect,  as  we  endure — nay 
welcome — so  many  plays  of  English  de 
scent. 

If  newspaper  critics  were  censorious  and 
ironic,  and  audiences  not  very  numerous, 
there  was  compensation  in  receiving  the  two 
letters  which  follow  here.  Letters  from  one 
who  has  given  more  to  the  English  theatre 
— the  English  drama — than  anyone  since 
Sheridan;  one,  whom  every  man  who  writes 
for  the  English  speaking  stage  today  must 
acknowledge  as  master. 

Stillands, 
8th  Oct.,  1910.  North  Chapel, 

Sussex. 
My  dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

Sir  John  Hare  was  down  here  the  other 
day  and  talked  about  your  play.  He  had 
seen  it  on  the  first  night  in  King  Street  and 
was  delighted  with  the  charming  writing, 
delicate  characterization,  and  pleasant  fancy 
contained  in  your  work.  He  had  much 
praise  for  the  acting  and  mounting. 

I  scribble  you  this  because  Hare  is  a  man 


136   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

of  great  taste  and  one  whose  good  opinion 
is,  to  my  thinking,  well  worth  having. 

I  am  just  now  out  of  the  way  of  things 
theatrical  and  don't  know  how  "D'Arcy"  is 
"going,"  but  I  hope  that  Alexander  is  able 
to  send  you  excellent  news. 

Hurriedly  but  sincerely  yours, 

Arthur  Pinero. 

115a  Harley  Street, 

19th  November,  1910.  W. 

My  dear  Mr.  Shipman, 

I  have  a  confession  to  make.  I  didn't 
see  "D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  after  all.  Alex 
ander  had  reserved  a  box  for  Lady  Pinero 
for  the  last  night  but  one,  and  I  had  ar 
ranged  to  join  her  and  we  were  to  sup  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  afterwards.  But, 
alas!  the  pleasant  engagement  fell  through. 
My  wife,  who  has  been  in  delicate  health 
for  some  time  past,  was  at  the  last  moment 
compelled  to  send  an  excuse,  and  I  was  not, 
in  the  circumstances,  inclined  to  go  alone. 

I  think  that  you  have  every  reason  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  result  of  the  production  of 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   137 

your  play.  It  had,  as  things  go  with  us, 
nowadays,  a  good  run,  and  any  play  which 
you  may  do  here  in  the  future  will  be  looked 
to  with  agreeable  anticipation.  Don't  keep 
our  play-goers  too  long  before  you  let  them 
hear  from  you  again. 

Always  yours  sincerely, 

Arthur  Pinero. 

And  so  the  adventures  proper  of  "D'Arcy 
of  the  Guards"  come  to  an  end.  Not  that 
there  is  anything  improper  to  follow:  he 
has  not  been  lured  into  the  moving-picture 
shows,1  nor  has  he  served  the  purposes  of 
the  lyric  stage;  although  I  can't  say  that 
there  have  not  been  temptations  to  both 
thrown  in  his  way.  But  there  are  several 
matters  of  collateral  interest,  concerning 
plays  and  the  theatre,  impinging  on  the  for 
tunes  of  both,  which  I  am  impelled  to  touch 
upon  lightly  in  a  final  chapter,  in  hopes  that 
lifting  the  veil  somewhat  from  the  lesser 

1  Since  writing  the  above  he  has  been  lured,  captured,  and 
sentenced  to  capital  punishment  in  the  "movies."  See  Ap 
pendix. 


138   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

mysteries  may  satisfy  a  teasing  curiosity 
that  confronts  one  at  every  turn  these  days, 
and  also  correct  a  few  errors  that  float  buoy 
antly  on  the  current  of  misinformation  in 
which  the  theatre  and  its  denizens  struggle. 


CHAPTER   VII 

OMMON  sense,  sagacity,  justice  of 
perception,  openness  to  ideas,  suscep 
tibility  to  beauty,  sufficient  information, 
these  qualities  constitute  the  critic,  and  who 
ever  possesses  and  exercises  them  is  a  critic, 
whatever  else  he  may  be." 

J.  A.  Symonds. 

"Real  criticism r,,«.  .obeys  an  in 
stinct  prompting  it  to  try  to  know  the  best 
that  is  known  and  thought  in  the  world." 

Matthew  Arnold. 

"For  what  is  at  present  the  bane  of  criti 
cism  in  this  country?  It  is  that  practical 
considerations  cling  to  it  and  stifle  it.  It 
subserves  interests  not  its  own." 

Matthew  Arnold. 
139 


140   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

I  have  known  stoical  actors,  managers, 
and  playwrights  who  pursued  an  even  way, 
conscious  that  they  had  done  their  best,  and, 
satisfied  with  that,  completely  oblivious  of 
any  critical  commentary  on  the  results  of 
their  labor.  But  if  it  were  possible  to  have 
an  early  peep  at  the  more  human  of  them, 
the  morning  after  a  first  night,  the  odds 
would  be  largely  in  favor  of  finding  them 
in  the  midst  of  a  rumpled  array  of  the  daily 
prints.  I  have  even  heard  that  certain  high- 
strung  members  of  the  profession  wait  wear 
ily  all  night  at  The  Lambs  for  the  earliest 
editions.  Leaving  aside  the  indifferent  ones 
as  abnormal,  we  have  not  far  to  seek  for  the 
eagerness  and  trepidation  of  the  others. 
The  actor's  engagement,  the  manager's  in 
vestment,  and  the  profit  of  the  playwright's 
labor  all  depend  on  the  dicta  of  the  little 
group  of  journalists  who  have  rushed  to 
their  several  offices  immediately  after  the 
play,  and  written  their  impressions  of  the 
performance.  In  the  circumstances,  it  is 
hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  their  utter 
ances  receive  an  attention  out  of  all  pro- 


COSTUME  PLATE  FOR     D  ARCY  OF  THE  GUARDS 
BY  PERCY  MACQUOID,  R.  I. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   141 

portion  to  either  their  value  as  'judgments 
or  the  intrinsic  quality  of  their  point  of  view, 
and  neither  is  it  in  any  way  extraordinary 
that  they  take  themselves  for  the  most  part 
as  seriously  as  they  are  taken  by  others.  To 
see  one's  opinion  in  large  letters  plastered 
on  hoarding  and  ash-barrel,  to  see  oneself 
quoted  in  the  sparkling  letters  of  an  electric 
sign,  to  have  the  entree  of  the  manager's 
private  office,  and  the  "star's"  dressing 
room,  does  not  make  for  any  particular  mod 
esty.  Nor  do  I  say  that  these  glories  and 
privileges  are  for  all,  or  that  they  influence 
in  the  slightest  way  the  opinion  of  any;  I 
do  say,  however,  that  the  conditions  which 
surround  what  we  call  dramatic  criticism 
in  this  country  are  such  that  it  makes  that 
criticism  valueless  either  as  an  incentive  or 
a  corrective  to  those  in  the  theatre,  while 
as  a  guide  and  interpreter  to  the  public  it  is 
just  as  ineffective  and  futile. 

And  what  are,  in  the  main,  these  condi 
tions?  An  acceptance  by  most  of  our  great 
newspapers  of  the  attitude  of  the  commer 
cial  manager,  that  his  theatres  and  produc- 


142    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

tions  are  commercial  undertakings  to  be  ad 
vertised,  not  criticized;  an  acceptance  of  the 
attitude  of  the  great  mass  of  raw  theatre 
goers  that  they  know  what  they  like,  and 
are,  therefore,  to  be  encouraged  in  their  de 
votion  to  the  inane,  the  vulgar,  and  the  com 
monplace,  and  along  with  this,  an  insistence 
that  the  men  who  write  about  the  theatre 
shall  conform  to  the  tastes  and  standards 
of  these  most  important  constituents  of  our 
daily  journals.  It  follows  quite  naturally 
from  any  such  principle  of  selection  as  this, 
that  these  men,  to  whom  the  public  should 
look  as  guides  and  philosophers,  are  hardly 
chosen  for  their  openness  to  ideas,  their  sus 
ceptibility  to  beauty  or  their  sufficient  in 
formation,  neither  for  their  endeavor  to 
know  the  best  that  is  known  or  thought  in 
the  world,  but  rather  for  practical  consid 
erations  that  cling  to  them  and  stifle  them; 
and  not  until  the  affairs  of  the  theatre  are 
detached  from  the  desire  of  the  average 
newspaper  for  gossip  and  advertising,  and 
treated  with  the  same  discrimination  that  is 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   143 

accorded  music  or  an  exhibition  of  painting, 
will  matters  be  much  mended. 

If  our  important  weeklies,  The  Outlook, 
Harper's  and  Collier's,  and  our  great  month 
lies  should  establish  regular  and  enlight 
ened  criticism  of  the  theatre,  the  stimulus 
would  be  felt  not  only  in  New  York  but 
throughout  the  country,  and  the  reaction  of 
public  opinion,  thus  nurtured  and  cultivated, 
on  actor,  playwright,  and  manager  would,  I 
am  convinced,  do  much  to  raise  the  drama 
to  its  rightful  position,  not  only  as  the  great 
popular  amusement  of  the  people,  but  as  the 
great  popular  educator,  in  the  matter  of 
manners,  morals,  and  literature. 

The  law  which  governs  the  financial  suc 
cess  of  a  play  has  never  been  discovered. 
People  of  the  theatre  are  not  apt  teleolo- 
gists.  Their  reasoning  runs  along  lines 
rather  simple  and  obvious.  It  is  much  easier 
to  put  the  blame  for  a  failure,  on  the  fact 
that  the  "tag"  of  the  play  was  spoken  at 
rehearsals,  or  to  ascribe  the  reasons  for  suc 
cess  to  the  esoteric  properties  residing  in 


144    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

the  favorite  rabbit's  foot  of  the  leading 
lady's  "make-up"  box,  than  it  is  to  fasten  on 
the  one  or  many  final  causes.  Good  plays 
have  been  known  to  fail  and  be  withdrawn 
in  a  fortnight,  while  bad  ones,  next  door, 
have  thriven  for  months:  so,  where  there  is 
so  little  firm  ground  on  which  speculation 
may  tread,  the  lighter  reasoning  serves  as 
well  as  any  other. 

"D'Arcy"  was  given  fifty  performances  at 
the  Savoy,  but  whether  the  shortness  of  its 
stay  was  due  to  a  black  cat  crossing  the  stage 
early  in  the  run  I  cannot  say.  Miller  al 
ways  maintains  that  the  only  partial  suc 
cess  of  the  play  in  New  York  was  attribut 
able  to  the  damnable  shooting  of  the  hero; 
I  have  always  vaguely  felt  that  it  was  be 
cause  he  was  only  half  shot.  Romantic  au 
diences  like  romantic  heroes  and  situations 
are  exigent  and  stand  no  trifling.  And  yet 
the  pecuniary  returns  of  the  six  weeks  in 
New  York  were  in  no  way  despicable.  The 
receipts  for  the  first  week  were  something 
over  four  thousand  dollars:  for  the  last 
week  just  under  that;  and  the  biggest  week, 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   145 

one  of  holidays,  was  about  six  thousand  dol 
lars.  The  gross  takings  were  twenty-eight 
thousand  dollars,  and  to  satisfy  the  curious 
I  give  approximately  the  division  of  this 
sum.  The  managers  of  the  theatre  received 
fifty  per  cent.,  or  fourteen  thousand  dollars 
for  the  rental.  Miller  received  the  other 
fourteen  thousand,  out  of  which  he  paid  the 
expensess  of  the  company  and  my  royalty, 
which,  together,  came  to  about  fourteen  hun 
dred  dollars  a  week;  giving  to  him  a  profit 
on  the  New  York  engagement  of  over  four 
thousand  dollars.  Hardly  what  would  be 
called  unremunerative. 

The  amount  of  royalty  paid  to  me,  ac 
cording  to  the  terms  of  my  agreement  with 
Miller,  was  fourteen  hundred  dollars.  To 
a  young  author,  for  whom  the  memory  of 
the  struggle  and  disappointments  was  al 
ready  dimmed,  it  seemed,  in  the  phrase  of 
the  street,  "a  shame  to  take  the  money,"  but 
these  qualms  disappear  readily,  and  the 
habit  of  receiving  royalties  becomes  a  con 
firmed  one.  Like  the  man-eating  tiger,  a 


SA.VOY 

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Box  office  statement  of  receipts  for  a  performance 
of  "D'Arcy  of  The  Guards"  at  the  Savoy 
Theatre,  New  York 
146 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY  147 

taste  of  blood  makes  one  ravenous  for  ever 
more. 

I  have  touched  on  the  matter  of  receipts, 
profits  and  royalties  rather  specifically  be 
cause  they  are  matters  about  which  the 
minds  of  many  people,  both  in  and  outside 
the  precincts  of  the  theatre,  play  with  more 
vivacity  than  common  sense.  They  translate 
the  successes  and  failures  of  the  play-house 
into  huge  sums  that  have  no  relation  what 
ever  to  the  actual  figures;  but  the  modest 
returns  of  a  play  such  as  "D'Arcy"  are  much 
nearer  to  those  of  the  average  play  than 
the  astounding  reports  one  occasionally  sees 
in  a  Sunday  supplement,  or  hears  about  at 
the  dinner  tables  of  the  ignorant. 

It  is  told  of  a  contemporary — not  Oliver 
Herford — that  on  three  several  occasions 
he  addressed  to  his  valet,  his  cabman  and 
a  page  at  a  club,  the  experimental  query, 
"And  how  is  the  play  coming  on?"  To  which 
the  invariable  reply  was,  "Oh,  it's  all  fin 
ished,  sir,  except  putting  in  the  dialogue." 
For  the  edification  of  those  numberless  ones 
who,  obsessed  by  the  "scenic  idea,"  have  all 


148    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

finished  "except  putting  in  the  dialogue," 
and  for  those  other  numberless  ones  who 
have  got  it  in,  all  of  whom  are  looking  for 
ward,  and  I  trust  not  vainly,  to  ultimate  pro 
ductions  and  royalties,  I  have  reproduced  on 
the  following  pages  (see  appendix)  three 
of  the  contracts  which,  at  various  times,  I 
have  made  for  the  production  of  "D'Arcy 
of  the  Guards":  the  first  with  Robert  Taber, 
the  second  with  Henry  Miller,  and  the  third 
with  George  Alexander.  They  cover  almost 
every  possible  contingency  that  can  arise  be 
tween  author  and  producer,  and  I  think  they 
may  serve  as  a  fairly  sufficient  guide  to  the 
untried  playwright  and  also  prove  of  inter 
est  to  the  inconsiderable  minority  who  are 
not  writing  plays. 

The  points  of  difference  in  the  three 
agreements  are  very  suggestive  and  are  in 
dicative  of  the  special  conditions  that  at 
tended  the  making  of  each.  Briefly  the  spe 
cial  conditions  were  these:  Taber  absolutely 
controlled  all  rights  to  the  piece  for  four 
years  with  no  obligation  to  produce  dur 
ing  that  period.  There  the  payments  spe- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   149 

cified  in  paragraphs  one  and  three  of  his 
contract  were  bonuses,  and  not  to  be  de 
ducted  from  royalties,  and  further  the  per 
centage  of  royalties — see  paragraph  two  in 
each  of  the  contracts — is  radically  different 
in  Taber's  agreement  from  the  other  two, 
though  a  casual  reading  might  not  disclose 
it.  The  wide  divergence  in  the  practical  ap 
plication  of  these  paragraphs  to  actual  re 
ceipts  will  be  more  plainly  seen  by  a  con 
crete  example,  a  very  fanciful  one.  Suppose 
the  gross  receipts  for  one  week  to  be  seven 
thousand  dollars.  Under  the  Taber  con 
tract  I  would  receive  seven  hundred  dollars 
in  author's  royalties;  the  Miller  agreement 
would  give  me  four  hundred  and  fifty  dol 
lars  ;  and  if  I  employed  a  firm  of  expert  ac 
countants  to  figure  on  paragraph  two  of  the 
Alexander  contract,  with  its  quaint  British 
detachment  of  the  matinees  from  the  rest 
of  the  performances,  the  royalty  would  be 
considerably  less  than  either  of  the  other 
two.  The  retroactive  character  of  the  roy 
alty  clause  in  the  Taber  arrangement  is  very 
unusual  and  was  based  entirely  on  the  in- 


150   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

definite  plans  for  production.  And  I  wish 
to  emphasize  what  I've  said  before  concern 
ing  the  unwisdom  of  tying  a  play  up  for  any 
such  period  as  is  stipulated  in  this  contract. 
The  most  liberal  of  contracts  is  no  compen 
sation  for  an  unacted  play. 

The  agreement  with  Henry  Miller  was 
closely  related  to  the  fact  that  he  intended 
almost  immediate  production,  and  therefore 
the  first  payment  was  small,  and  an  advance 
on  royalties;  that  is  it  was  to  be  deducted 
from  royalties  earned  before  any  further 
payments  were  made.  In  every  respect  this 
contract  is  perfectly  equitable  and  in  many 
of  its  provisions  extremely  liberal  for  the 
first  play  of  an  untried  author.  So  much 
for  contracts:  there  are  innumerable  varia 
tions  based  on  special  and  personal  consid 
erations,  but  by  the  time  these  come  to  be 
a  matter  of  discussion  between  manager  and 
author,  the  latter  is  usually  able  to  safe 
guard  his  own  interests. 

It  is  often  asked  how  an  author  knows 
whether  he  is  receiving  his  proper  fees.  The 
system  of  accounting  is  very  simple,  accu- 


St.  James's  Theatre 

Sole  Learn  »od  Manager  -   Mr.  GEORGE  ALEXANDER 


FINAL    RETURN 

OF   THE   GUARDS. 


BOOKINGS  (Box  Office)         
BOORS  (Grand  Entrance)        ... 

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WEATHER 


Box  office  statement  of  receipts  for  a  performance 
of  "D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  at  the  St.  James's 


Theatre,  London 
151 


152   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

rate  and  for  the  most  part  reliable,  and  is 
as  follows:  the  treasurer  of  the  theatre  at 
which  the  play  is  being  performed,  and  the 
business  manager  of  the  company  acting  the 
play,  "count  up  the  house"  during  every 
performance.  That  is  they  sort  and  tabulate 
the  ticket  stubs  that  the  door  keeper  has 
dropped  into  his  locked  tin-box,  each  one 
checking  the  other;  and  when  their  addi 
tion  comes  to  a  common  sum,  each  signs  the 
other's  account.  At  the  end  of  each  week 
the  signed  statements  are  sent  to  the  author 
with  a  cheque  for  his  royalty;  and  it  is  an 
easy  matter  in  this  way  to  follow  the  busi 
ness  side  of  the  production.  I  have  repro 
duced  here  one  of  the  statements  of  the  Sa 
voy  Theatre  during  the  run  of  "D'Arcy."  A 
particularly  good  looking  one  showing  every 
seat  in  the  house  sold  except  twenty-four  in 
the  second  balcony;  and  one  of  the  St. 
James's — not  so  good  looking! 

After  a  play  has  finished  a  successful  tour 
"on  the  road"  it  is  in  continual  demand  for 
use  by  the  various  stock-companies  that,  for 
the  last  fifteen  years  or  thereabouts,  have 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   153 

been  established  in  nearly  every  city  in  the 
United  States  (see  appendix).  These  com 
panies,  unheard  of  save  in  the  theatrical 
world,  outside  of  the  communities  in  which 
they  are  established,  have  been,  I  think,  on 
the  whole,  the  most  potent  modern  influence 
in  the  development  of  a  rational  healthy 
taste  for  the  theatre  that  we  have  had  in  this 
country,  besides  being  our  only  training 
school  for  actors.  It  is  amusing  to  see 
the  startled  look  on  the  faces  of  a  New 
York  audience,  and  the  agitated  rustle  of 
programmes  at  some  first  performance, 
when  an  hitherto  utterly  unknown  actor 
or  actress  makes  a  "hit,"  usually  the  result, 
if  it  were  but  known,  of  months  and  even 
years  of  steady  grind  at  a  new  part  every 
week,  and  a  performance  twice  a  day  in 
Minneapolis,  Denver,  Salt  Lake,  Toledo, 
Providence  or  wherever  chance  has  set  them 
down.  This  training,  crude,  arduous  and  far 
removed  in  most  instances  from  the  whole 
some  and  inspiring  association  with  the  other 
arts,  is  nevertheless  the  only  course  open  to 


154   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

young  actors  for  acquiring  the  elementary 
technique  of  their  profession. 

But  it  is  in  their  peculiar  relation  to  the 
life  of  a  play  that  I  mention  the  stock  com 
panies  here.  There  has  not  been  a  year  since 
the  original  production  of  "D'Arcy"  that  it 
has  not  been  played  by  some  of  these  com 
panies  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
whereas  without  them  its  career  would  have 
ended,  once  it  had  served  its  purpose  as  the 
special  medium  for  Henry  Miller.  In  this 
way  has  gradually  been  formed  a  repertoire 
of  American  plays  that  is  fairly  representa 
tive  of  the  movement  and  development  of 
the  American  drama  during  the  last  twenty 
years.  And,  although  most  of  our  plays 
"date"  very  quickly,  it  is  interesting  to  have 
the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  plays  of  Bron- 
son  Howard,  Augustus  Thomas,  Clyde 
Fitch,  William  Gillette,  as  well  as  many 
others,  rescued  from  the  limbo  to  which  our 
peculiar  theatrical  conditions  would  ordinar 
ily  consign  them.  The  method  of  renting  or 
leasing  these  plays  to  different  companies  is 
usually  through  the  offices  of  one  or  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   155 

other  of  several  agents  that  make  a  spe 
cialty  of  stock-company  business.  The  fees 
range  from  a  thousand  dollars  a  week,  for 
exceptional  successes,  all  the  way  down  to 
fifty  dollars  a  week;  and  a  popular  play 
serves  as  a  source  of  steady  income  for  a 
dozen  years  after  its  first  flight. 

The  last  matter  which  I  wish  to  mention 
is  one  of  the  first  which  should  concern  the 
author  of  a  play :  the  legal  protection  of  his 
property.  I  don't  propose  to  invade  the 
mysteries  of  American  copyright;  no  one 
but  Robert  Underwood  Johnson  pretends 
to  have  mastered  them;  and  as  for  the  new 
English  law  which  went  into  effect  in  July, 
1912,  it  is  beyond  even  the  omniscience  of 
Mr.  Chesterton.  There  is,  however,  a 
formal  but  simple  proceeding  which  serves 
at  least  as  a  warning  to  would-be  tres 
passers,  and  which  does  not  interfere  with 
the  inalienable  rights  that  even  authors  have 
under  the  common  law.  Secure  from  the 
Register  of  Copyrights,  Library  of  Con 
gress,  Washington,  an  application  blank  for 
"dramatic  composition  not  reproduced  for 


156   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

sale"  Fill  out  the  application  and  return  it, 
together  with  one  typewritten  copy  of  the 
play  and  the  fee,  one  dollar,  to  the  Register 
of  Copyrights,  and  he  will  send  a  certificate 
of  registration.  If,  however,  the  play  is  to 
be  published  in  book  form,  "for  sale,"  be 
fore  production,  the  preliminaries  are  some 
what  different  and  may  be  left  to  the  pub 
lisher.  The  new  English  copyright  act  of 
1912  does  away  with  the  expensive  and  in 
convenient  necessity  of  actually  producing 
the  play  before  copyright  can  be  secured,  it 
also  abolishes  that  ancient  place  of  registry, 
Stationers'  Hall.  But  what  it  supplies  in 
their  place,  outside  of  the  provisions  for  or 
dinary  copyright,  would  have  to  be  decided 
by  an  arbitration  court  composed  of  mind- 
readers.  My  opinion  is  that  the  certificate 
of  registration  from  our  own  copyright 
office  would  be  recognized  by  English  courts 
as  valid  evidence  of  proprietorship. 

The  rights  of  an  author  to  his  play  under 
the  common  law  are  the  same  as  he  would 
have  to  his  pocket-book,  if  I  may  be  allowed 
to  imagine  that  he  might  possess  such  a  su- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   157 

pererogatory  article.  He  who  takes  play  or 
purse  may  be  stealing  trash,  but  he  is  ac 
countable  to  the  local  police  if  he  is  caught. 
And  this,  whether  the  play  be  copyrighted  or 
not.  For  further  information  relating  to 
copyright  I  should  advise  the  reading  of  R. 
R.Bowker's  excellent  and  exhaustive  treatise 
"Copyright:  Its  History  and  Its  Law"  pub 
lished  by  The  Houghton,  Mifflin  Company, 
communication  direct  with  the  Registrar  of 
Copyrights  at  Washington,  or  consultation 
with  a  reliable  astrologer.  The  laws  which 
govern  it  are  a  monument  to  the  stupidity 
of  our  legislators  and  complete  testimony 
to  the  unimportance  of  the  profession  whose 
work  they  pretend  to  protect. 

In  conclusion,  after  writing  compendious 
ly  of  nearly  everything  that  relates  to  the 
precarious  career  of  a  playwright,  from 
critics  to  contracts,  from  royalties  to 
"rights,"  I  suppose  I  should  devote  a  final 
paragraph  to  "how  to  write  a  play."  But  I 
must  leave  that  to  the  larger  discourse  of 
Mr.  W.  T.  Price  and  Mr.  William  Archer. 
This  little  book  was  not  meant  to  arouse 


158   ADVENTURES  OF  '&  PLAY 

enthusiasm  for  what  is  at  best  a  dubious  pro 
fession,  but  simply  to  inculcate  that  ines 
timable  virtue,  patience,  in  those  who  have 
been  unfortunate  enough  to  adopt  it.  If 
it  in  any  way  serves,  pleasure  will  have  wait 
ed  upon  duty  not  in  vain,  and  American 
managers  and  "stars"  may  expect  in  the 
next  few  months  an  avalanche  of  dog-eared 
manuscripts,  rescued  from  despair  and  sent 
forth  again  on  the  bright  wings  of  hope.  Let 
us  wish  that  they  will  all  find  sponsors,  and 
play  to  the  magical  sign,  "S.  R.  O." 


APPENDIX 


CONTRACT  MADE  WITH  ROBERT 
TABER 

MEMORANDUM  OF  AGREEMENT  made  this 
fifteenth  day  of  December,  in  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
(December  15th,  1899)  between  Louis 
Evan  Shipman,  of  16  Gramercy  Park,  New 
York  City,  United  States  of  America,  party 
of  the  first  part,  and  Robert  Taber,  of  40 
Dover  Street,  Piccadilly,  W.,  London,  Eng 
land,  party  of  the  second  part,  and 

Whereas,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part 
is  the  author  of  a  play  in  four  acts,  entitled 
"D'Arcy  of  the  Guards,"  and 

Whereas.,  the  said  party  of  the  second  part 
desires  the  exclusive  right  to  produce  or  to 
have  produced  the  said  play  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  Great  Britain  and 
her  colonies,  and 

161 


162   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

Now  therefore,  in  consideration  of  the 
sum  of  one  dollar,  paid  by  the  said  party  of 
the  second  part  to  the  said  party  of  the  first 
part,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  and  the 
said  party  of  the  second  part  respectively 
agree  as  follows: 

a 


The  said  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to 
sell,  assign,  and  transfer  and  hereby  does 
sell,  assign,  and  transfer  to  the  said  party  of 
the  second  part  the  exclusive  right  to  pro 
duce  the  said  play  in  the  United  States  of 
America  and  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies, 
for  which  sale,  assignment  and  transfer  the 
said  party  of  the  second  part  agrees  to  pay 
to  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  or  to  his 
authorized  agent,  as  follows:  The  sum  of 
five  hundred  dollars  ($500)  on  the  signing 
and  execution  of  this  agreement,  which  sum 
shall  be  a  bonus  paid  by  the  said  party  of 
the  second  part  to  the  said  party  of  the  first 
part,  and  shall  belong  to  the  said  party  of 
the  first  part. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAYS   163 


II 


Also  the  further  sum  in  author's  royal 
ties  as  follows:  five  per  cent.  (5%)  on  all 
gross  weekly  receipts,  if  the  said  receipts  do 
not  exceed  five  thousand  dollars  ($5,000) ; 
seven  and  one-half  per  cent.  (7%%)  on  au< 
gross  weekly  receipts,  if  the  said  receipts  ex 
ceed  five  thousand  dollars  ($5,000),  but  do 
not  exceed  six  thousand  dollars  ($6,000), 
and  ten  per  cent.  (10%)  on  all  gross  weekly 
receipts  if  the  said  receipts  exceed  six  thou 
sand  dollars  ($6,000)  for  all  performances 
of  the  said  play  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies. 


Ill 

If  the  said  play  is  retained  and  is  not  pro 
duced  by  the  said  party  of  the  second  part 
on  or  before  December  15th,  1902,  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part  shall  then  pay  to 
the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  or  to  his 


164   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

authorized  agent,  the  further  sum  of  five 
hundred  dollars  ($500),  which  sum  shall 
likewise  be  a  bonus  paid  by  the  said  party  of 
the  second  part  to  the  said  party  of  the  first 
part,  and  shall  belong  to  the  said  party  of 
the  first  part. 


IV 


If  the  said  play  is  not  released  by  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part,  and  is  not  pro 
duced  by  him  on  or  before  December  15th, 
1903,  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  shall 
then  return  to  the  said  party  of  the  first  part, 
or  to  his  authorized  agent,  all  manuscripts 
of  the  said  play  in  the  possession  of  the 
said  party  of  the  second  part,  and  all  the 
rights  of  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  in 
and  to  the  said  play  shall  cease. 


The  said  party  of  the  second  part  further 
agrees,  that  should  he  produce  the  said  play, 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   165 

to  produce  it  in  a  first-class  theatre  and  in  a 
first-class  manner,  and  in  the  evening  bill. 


VI 


The  said  party  of  the  second  part  shall 
not  at  any  time  or  under  any  circumstances 
sublet  any  of  the  rights  under  this  contract 
or  any  portion  of  such  rights,  nor  transfer 
this  contract  to  any  other  party  at  any  time 
or  under  any  circumstances  without  the 
written  consent  of  the  said  party  of  the  first 
part  or  his  authorized  agent. 


VII 

The  said  party  of  the  second  part,  should 
he  produce  the  said  play,  agrees  to  announce 
the  name  of  the  said  Louis  Evan  Shipman 
as  sole  author  of  the  said  play  on  all  posters, 
programmes,  and  other  advertising  matter 
connected  with  the  said  play. 


166   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

VIII 

If  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  shall 
at  any  time  fail  to  fulfil  any  of  the  condi 
tions  set  forth  in  Article  II  of  this  agree 
ment  the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  or  his 
authorized  agent,  may  thereupon,  by  a  reg 
istered  letter  sent  addressed  to  the  said  party 
of  the  second  part  at  his  address,  give  notice 
terminating  this  agreement,  and  all  rights 
granted  and  assigned  by  the  said  party  of 
the  first  part  to  the  said  party  of  the  second 
part  shall  thereupon  revert  to  the  said  party 
of  the  first  part,  but  without  prejudice  to 
any  right  or  rights  to  compensation  or  dam 
ages  or  cause  or  causes  of  action  that  the  said 
party  of  the  first  part  may  or  might  have 
in  respect  to  any  breach  or  breaches  of  this 
agreement. 


IX 


The  agreements  hereto  are  binding  upon 
the  heirs,  executors,  administrators,  or  rep- 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    167 

resentatives  of  the  parties  hereabove  men 
tioned. 

IN  WITNESS  WHEREOF  the  parties  herebe- 
low  named  have  set  their  hands  and  seals 
the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

Louis  EVAN  SHIPMAN, 

ROBERT  TABER. 


CONTRACT   WITH  HENRY    MIL 
LER 

AGREEMENT  made  this  twenty-third  day 
of  March,  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
one  (March  23rd,  1901),  between  Louis 
Shipman,  of  Windsor,  Vermont,  party  of 
the  first  part,  and  Henry  Miller,  of  New 
York  City,  United  States  of  America,  party 
of  the  second  part,  and 

Whereas,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part 
is  the  author  of  a  play  in  four  acts,  entitled 
"D'Arcy  of  the  Guards,"  and 

Whereas,  the  said  party  of  the  second  part 
desires  the  sole  and  exclusive  right  to  pro 
duce  or  to  have  produced  the  said  play  in 
the  United  States  of  America  and  in  Can 
ada, 

Now,  therefore,  in  consideration  of  the 
sum  of  one  dollar,  paid  by  the  said  party  of 
168 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   169 

the  second  part  to  the  said  party  of  the  first 
part,  the  receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowl 
edged,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  and 
the  said  party  of  the  second  part  respectively 
agree  as  follows : 


The  said  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to 
assign,  transfer,  and  lease,  and  hereby  does 
assign,  transfer,  and  lease  to  the  said  party 
of  the  second  part,  the  sole  and  exclusive 
right  to  produce  or  to  have  produced  the 
said  play  in  the  United  States  of  America 
and  in  Canada,  for  which  assignment,  trans 
fer,  and  lease  the  said  party  of  the  second 
part  agrees  to  pay  to  the  said  party  of  the 
first  part,  or  to  his  authorized  agent,  Miss 
Elisabeth  Marbury,  of  the  Empire  Theatre 
Building,  Broadway  and  Fortieth  Street, 
New  York  City,  United  States  of  America, 
as  follows: 

The  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
(($250),  on  the  signing  and  execution  of  this 
agreement,  which  sum  shall  be  in  advance  of 


170  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

author's  royalties,  but  under  no  condition  is 
the  said  sum  to  be  returned  to  the  said  party 
of  the  second  part,  the  said  sum  belonging 
exclusively  to  the  said  party  of  the  first 
part. 


II 


Also,  after  deducting  the  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  ($250),  paid  in  advance  of 
royalties,  the  further  sum  in  author's  royal 
ties,  as  follows:  five  per  cent.  (5%)  on  the 
first  four  thousand  dollars  ($4,000)  gross 
weekly  receipts ;  seven  and  one-half  per  cent. 
(1^/2%)  on  the  next  two  thousand  dollars 
($2,000)  gross  weekly  receipts,  and  ten  per 
cent.  (10%)  on  all  gross  weekly  receipts 
which  exceed  six  thousand  dollars  ($6,000) 
for  all  performances  of  the  said  play  in  the 
United  States  of  America  and  in  Canada. 


Ill 


If  the  said  play  is  not  produced  by  the 
said  party  of  the  second  part  on  or  before 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    171 

the  first  day  of  September,  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  one  (September  1st, 
1901),  and,  if  it  is  retained  by  him,  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part  agrees  to  pay  to 
the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  or  to  his  au 
thorized  agent,  the  further  sum  of  one  thou 
sand  dollars  ($1,000),  which  sum  shall  like 
wise  be  in  advance  of  author's  royalties,  and 
not  to  be  returned  in  any  event  to  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part. 

IV 

If  the  said  play  is  not  produced  by  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part  on  or  before  Sep 
tember  first,  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
two  (September  1st,  1902) ,  the  said  party  of 
the  second  part  shall  then  return  to  the  said 
party  of  the  first  part,  or  to  his  authorized 
agent,  all  manuscripts  of  the  said  play  in 
the  possession  of  the  said  party  of  the  sec 
ond  part,  and  all  rights  of  the  said  party  of 
the  second  part  in  and  to  the  said  play  shall 
cease,  and  all  sums  paid  by  the  said  party 
of  the  second  part  to  the  said  party  of  the 


172    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

first  part,  or  to  his  authorized  agent,  shall 
be  forfeited  by  the  said  party  of  the  second 
part,  and  shall  belong  to  the  said  party  of 
the  first  part. 


The  said  party  of  the  second  part  agrees 
to  announce  the  name  of  the  said  Louis 
Shipman,  as  sole  author  of  the  said  play,  on 
all  posters,  programmes,  and  other  advertis 
ing  matter  connected  with  the  said  play. 


vi 


The  said  party  of  the  second  part  agrees, 
that  should  he  produce  the  said  play,  to  pro 
duce  it  in  a  proper  theatre  and  in  a  first- 
class  manner. 

VII 

The  said  party  of  the  second  part  agrees 
to  furnish  to  the  said  party  of  the  first  part, 
or  to  his  authorized  agent,  weekly  state 
ments  of  the  gross  receipts  of  the  said  play, 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    173 

wherever  performed  in  the  United  States  of 
America  and  in  Canada,  and  to  make  week 
ly  payments  of  royalties,  according  to  the 
terms  of  this  agreement,  to  the  said  party  of 
the  first  part,  or  to  his  authorized  agent, 
promptly  each  week. 


VIII 

If  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  shall 
at  any  time  fail  to  fulfil  any  of  the  condi 
tions  set  forth  in  article  seventh  of  this 
agreement  (which  provides  for  time  and 
manner  of  payment  of  royalties)  the  said 
party  of  the  first  part,  or  his  authorized 
agent,  shall  thereupon,  by  a  registered  let 
ter  sent  addressed  to  the  said  party  of  the 
second  part  at  his  address,  give  notice  termi 
nating  this  agreement,  and  all  rights  grant 
ed  and  assigned  by  the  said  party  of  the 
first  part  to  the  said  party  of  the  second  part 
shall  thereupon  revert  to  the  said  party  of 
the  first  part;  provided,  however,  that  the 
royalties  then  due  remain  unpaid  for  a  pe- 


174   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

riod  of  fifteen  days  after  such  notice ;  with 
out  prejudice  to  any  right  or  rights  to  com 
pensation  or  damages,  or  cause  or  causes  of 
action  that  the  said  party  of  the  first  part 
may  or  might  have  in  respect  to  any  breach 
or  breaches  of  this  agreement. 

IX 

The  said  party  of  the  second  part,  should 
he  produce  the  said  play,  agrees  that,  if  dur 
ing  any  one  full  theatrical  season  the  play 
has  not  been  produced  seventy-five  (75) 
times,  that  all  his  rights  in  and  to  the  said 
play  shall  cease  and  revert  to  the  said  party 
of  the  first  part. 

This  agreement  to  be  binding  upon  the 
heirs,  executors,  administrators,  or  repre 
sentatives  of  the  parties  hereabove  men 
tioned. 

In  Witness  Whereof  the  parties  hereto 
have  hereunto  set  their  hands  and  seals  the 
day  and  year  first  above  written. 

Louis  EVAN  SHIPMAN., 
HENRY  MILLER. 


CONTRACT   WITH    SIR   GEORGE 
ALEXANDER 

MEMORANDUM  OF  AGREEMENT  entered 
into  this  twenty-ninth  day  of  June,  1904,  be 
tween  George  Alexander,  of  the  St.  James's 
Theatre,  King  Street,  London,  S.  W.  (here 
inafter  called  the  party  of  the  first  part), 
and  Louis  Evan  Shipman,  of  Windsor,  in 
the  State  of  Vermont,  United  States  of 
America  (hereinafter  called  the  party  of  the 
second  part)  — 

Whereby  it  is  agreed: 

That  the  party  of  the  second  part  makes 
over  to  the  party  of  the  first  part  the  entire 
acting  rights  in  his  play,  "D'Arcy  of  the 
Guards,"  for  the  United  Kingdom  and  Ire 
land  and  the  English  colonies  (Canada  ex- 
cepted)  for  a  period  of  seven  years  from  the 
date  of  its  production  by  the  party  of  the 

175 


176    ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

first  part,  on  the  following  terms  and  condi 
tions  : 

(1.)  The  party  of  the  first  part  to  pay  to 
the  party  of  the  second  part  the  sum  of  £200 
(two  hundred  pounds)  down,  on  the  sign 
ing  of  this  agreement,  and,  in  consideration 
of  this  payment,  the  party  of  the  first  part 
is  to  have  the  right  of  producing  the  said 
play  not  later  than  the  third  production  af 
ter  "Saturday  to  Monday,"  and  should  the 
party  of  the  first  part  find  that  his  arrange 
ments  will  not  permit  of  the  said  play  being 
produced  as  the  third  production  after  "Sat 
urday  to  Monday,"  then  the  party  of  the 
first  part,  by  payment  of  a  further  sum  of 
£100  (one  hundred  pounds),  may  have  the 
option  of  producing  the  said  play  as  late  as 
the  fifth  production  after  the  above-men 
tioned  piece  ("Saturday  to  Monday") ;  and 
it  is  understood  and  agreed  by  both  parties 
that  the  above-mentioned  sums  (two  hun 
dred  pounds,  and  one  hundred  pounds)  are 
to  be  considered  as  monies  paid  in  advance 
and  on  account  of  fees ;  but,  in  the  event  of 
the  said  play  not  being  produced  by  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   177 

party  of  the  first  part,  in  accordance  with 
the  above  conditions,  these  sums  paid  down 
by  him  are  to  be  forfeited. 

(2.)  The  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to 
pay  to  the  party  of  the  second  part,  as  fees, 
for  all  performances  at  his  own  theatre  in 
London,  or  at  any  other  London  theatre  un 
der  his  management,  5%  (five  per  cent.)  on 
the  gross  weekly  takings  (reckoning  a  week 
as  six  nightly  performances)  up  to  the  sum 
of  £700  (seven  hundred  pounds), 

yl/2%  (seven  and  a  half  per  cent.)  on  all 
sums  from  £700  (seven  hundred  pounds)  up 
to  £1,000  (one  thousand  pounds),  and 

10%  (ten  per  cent.)  on  all  sums  over 
£1,000  (one  thousand  pounds) ;  and  for  all 
matinees  of  the  said  play  the  fees  are  to  be 
reckoned  separately  from  the  nightly  per 
formances,  and  to  be  pro  rata,  i.  e.,  5%  (five 
per  cent.)  for  each  separate  matinee  up  to 
the  sum  of  £116:13:4  (one  hundred  and  six 
teen  pounds,  thirteen  shillings,  and  four- 
pence), 

71/2%  (seven  and  a  half  per  cent.)  on  the 
next  £50  (fifty  pounds),  10%  (ten  per 


178   ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY 

cent.)  on  all  sums  over  £166:13:4  (one  hun 
dred  and  sixty-six  pounds,  thirteen  shillings, 
and  four  pence). 

(3.)  For  all  performances  given  of  the 
said  play  by  the  party  of  the  first  part  and 
his  company  in  the  Suburban  or  Provincial 
Theatres  the  fees  payable  by  the  party  of 
the  first  part  to  the  party  of  the  second  part 
are  to  be:  5%  straight  on  the  weekly  gross 
receipts,  and  all  other  payments  received  by 
way  of  sale  or  royalty  for  performances  not 
under  the  party  of  the  first  part's  direct 
management,  whether  amateur  or  profes 
sional,  or  from  any  other  source  (always  ex 
cepting  monies  received  by  the  party  of  the 
second  part  on  account  of  performances 
given  in  the  United  States  of  America  and 
Canada)  are  to  be  equally  divided  between 
the  two  parties. 

(4.)  The  party  of  the  second  part  agrees 
to  allow  the  party  of  the  first  part  to  make 
any  alterations  in  the  said  play  that  he  may 
deem  necessary. 

(5.)  The  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to 
render  weekly  to  the  party  of  the  second 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY   179 

part  a  statement  of  the  receipts,  and  also  to 
announce  the  author's  name  (Louis  Evan 
Shipman)  in  all  newspaper  advertisements, 
bills  and  programmes  of  the  said  play. 

(6.)  It  is  mutually  understood  and 
agreed  between  both  parties  that  this  agree 
ment  is  subject  to  the  play  being  licensed  by 
the  Lord  Chamberlain,  and  in  the  event  of  a 
license  being  refused  this  agreement  be 
comes  null  and  void,  and  all  sums  paid  down 
in  advance  and  on  account  of  fees  are  to  be 
returned  by  the  party  of  the  second  part  to 
the  party  of  the  first  part. 

In  Witness  of  all  of  which  the  parties 
have  hereunto  set  their  hands. 

GEORGE  ALEXANDER, 
Louis  EVAN  SHIPMAN. 


CLISAGETH    MAHBURV 


ARCHIBALD  M5LVWN 


HELEN   TYLER 
Central  Manacer 


THE  AMERICAN  PLAY  COMPANY 

1451  BROADWAY 

NEW  YORK  CITY  «r 


TILEPHONE:   89»   MYAIVf 


List  of  Stock  Productions  for  Week  Ending  Feb.  14, 1914 


C,ly 


Play 


City 


Theatre 


Phy 


Akron   

..Music  Hall... 

Nashville  ... 

...Orpheum  ... 

Atlanta   

.  .Lyric  

.'."We  Are  Seven 

Newark  

..Orpheum  ... 

.  .  .The  Five  Frankforters  ; 

Baltimore   .  .  . 

.  .Auditorium  .  . 

..The  Thief 

New  Bedford 

...Hathawa/s  . 

....Stop  Thief 

Bayonne    .... 

.  .Broadway    .  .  . 

New  Britain. 

Boston     

..Castle   Square 

.  -The  Great  Ruby 

New  Orleans 

.  ..Dauphme    .. 

Brockton   ... 
Birmingham  . 

...  Hathaway  's  .. 
.  .Lyric  

..The  Yankee  Consul 
.  .  St.  Elmo 

New  York.. 
New  York. 

..Academy   A  Desperate  Chance 
.  .Cecil  Spooner.  .The  Million  Dollar  Girl 

Brooklyn    ... 

...Crescent    

..The  Middleman 

New  York... 

.  .  Harlem  

.  .  .  The  Man  Inside 

Brooklyn    .... 

.  .Gotham  

..Uncle  Tom's  Cabin 

New  York.    . 

.  Metropolis  .  . 

...We  Are  Seven 

Brooklyn    .... 

.  .Grand   

.  Dora  Thome 

New  York   . 

.  .  Prospect   .  . 

...The  Stranger    ' 

Brooklyn    .... 
Brooklyn   .... 

.  .Greenpoint   .  .  , 
.  .Lee  Avenue.  .  . 

.David  Coppcrfield 
.  In  the  Bishop's  Carriage 

New  York 
Northampton 

..Wadsworth  . 
.  Academy   .  .  . 

.  .The  Charity  Ball 

Brooklyn    — 

.  .Whitney    

.Old  Heidelberg 

Oakland 

.  .  Liberty      .    . 

.  .  The  Boss 

Chattanooga  . 
Cincinnati    ... 
Cleveland    ... 

.  .Lyric   
.  .Orpheum  .... 
.  .Cleveland    

.St.  Elmo 
..The  White  Sister 
.  By  Right  of  Sword 

Oak  Park 
Passaic 
Philadelphia 

Warrington  . 
Passaic     .  .  . 
.    American 

.  ..The  Rosary 
.  ..  In  Wyoming 
.  .  .  The  Gamblers 

Cleveland    ... 

..Duchess   

..The  Squaw  Man 

Philadelphia 

.Chestnut  St. 

...The  Man  Inside 

Cleveland    ... 

..Metropolitan  . 

..Elevating  a  Husband 

Philadelphia 

.Hart's   

...St.  Elmo 

Concord   

..Opera  House. 

Pittsburgh  .  . 

..Duaucsne   .  - 

...The  Master  Mind 

Denver  

.  .Denham  

.The  College  Widow 

Pittsburgh 

..put  

..The  Blindness  of  Virtue 

Detroit  

Elmira  
Erie  

..Washington   .. 

..Lyceum   .. 

..Majestic    

.The  Girl  from  the  Golden 
West 
..The  Talker 
.  Brown  of  Harvard 

Port  Arthur. 
Portland.  Me 
Portland,  Ore 
Providence     . 

..Lyceum     ... 
.  .  Jefferson    .  .  . 
.   Baker     
.  .  Empire   .... 

...The  Wrong  Mr  Wright 
...The  Case  of  Becky 
.  ..The  Country  Boy 
.  .  .  In  Wyoming 

Evanston   

.  .Evanston  

.  .The  Lost  Paradise 

Reading 

Grand 

F.ill  River  

..Bijou  

.  Dora  Thome 

Reading  

..Orpheum  .  .  . 

...The  Rosary 

Fall  River  

..Savoy    

.Stop  Thief 

Richmond  .  .  . 

..Bijou  

.  The  Two  Orphans 

Far  Rockaway  .  .Columbia 
Fort  Worth  Savoy  

..The  Deacon's  Daughter 
..MCn  and  Women 

St.  John  
St.  Paul  

..Opera  House 
..Shubert   .... 

.  ..A  Message  from  Mara 
...The  White  Sister 

Haverhill    .... 

,  .Orpheum  

.The  Fatal  Wedding 

Sacramento  .  . 

..Grand  

..Sherlock  Holmes 

Halifax  

.Academy   

Salem  

..Empire    ... 

.  .The  Traveling  Salesman 

Hoboken  
Jnmestown   ... 

.Gaycty    
.Opera  House  .  . 

.The  Traveling  Salesman 

Salt  Lake  City  ..  Utah   .   
San  Francisco.  .  Alcazar   

;.The  Sword  of  the  King 
...The  Royal  Mounted 

Kansas  City... 

.Auditorium  .  .  . 

iGet-Rich-Ouick      Walling- 

Seattle  

.Seattle  

..Brewster's  Millions 

ford 

Springfield   ... 

Broadway  .  .  . 

..The     Man     Who     Owns 

Lancaster   .... 

.  Fulton  

Broadway 

Lawrence    .... 

.Colonial   

..The  Rose  of  the  Rancho 

Taunton    

.Park  

Los  Angeles.  . 

..Burbank    

.Pretty  Mrs.  Smith 

Topeka   

.Majestic  .... 

..The  Swanee  River 

Lynn    

.Lynn   

Troy  

..Rand's  

...The  Man  Between 

Manchester   .. 

..Park  

.The  Great  Divide 

.  Empress  .  .  .  . 

..The  Silver  Horde 

Memphis    
Milwaukee    ... 
Minneapolis   .  . 

..Lyric  
.Shubert    
.Shubert    

.  Salomy  Jane 
.The  Country  Boy 
.The  Strength  of  the  Weak 

Waterbury   ... 
Wichita 

.Poli's  
.Jacque's  .... 
.  .Empress 

..The  Little  Minister 
...The  Ensign 
For  Her  Sake 

Mount  Vernon 

.Westchester  .. 

.The     Man     Who     Owns 

Wilmington    .  . 

.  Avenue  

..Under  Arizona  Skies 

Broadway 

Winnipeg  

.Winnipeg  ... 

..The  Confession 

FOR  WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY  WEEK 

D'ARCY  OF  THE  GUARDS* 

"D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  in  Stock 
180 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PLAY    181 

Lyceum  Theatre 
45th  Street,  between  Broadway  &  6th 

Avenue 

New  York 

Daniel  Frohman,  Manager 

Dear  Mr.  Shipman: 

I  applied  to  the  American  Play  Co.  for 
the  picture  rights  to  "D'Arcy  of  the 
Guards,"  but  they  inform  me  it  is  not  to  be 
had. 

I  would  have  liked  to  do  it  in  our  "Fa 
mous  Players  Film  Co."  Series. 

With  best  wishes, 

Yours, 

Dan'l  Frohman. 

Dec.  15,  1913. 


THE    NEW    YORK    DRAMATIC    MIRROR 


All  Star  Feature  Corporation 

HARRT  R.  RAVE",^         ARCHIBALD  SH*™-^       CM-  J.  COO^E.^          PHILlf  HE1N. 
AUGUSTUS  THOMAS,  DirtctorXleneral  of  Productions  "" 

Capital,  $100,000  No  Stock  for  Sale 

Offering  in  Woadou*  Motion  Tableau  the  Absolute  Pick  and  Cream  of 


THE  WORLD'S  GREATEST  PLAYS 


>  Start  of  Able  Producer. 


First  Great  Film  Ready  in  September 

AUGUSTUS  THOMAS'  EVERLASTING  SUCCESS 

"ARIZONA" 

With  CYRIL  SCOTT,  the  Croat  Broadway  Favorite,  and  *  Mighty  Cast 
of    Original    "Arizona**  Players 


PIERRE  OF 
THE  PLAINS 

|  5  Massive  Part*  \   260  Gripping  Scenes  \   250  People  and  Horses  \ 

THE  AfiAB 

Estimated  Actual  Cost,  $25.OOO 

28  Styl.,  of  Potler.,  H.lf-Sh.n.  to  TMrty-iix  Sheet.,  the  Most  Elaborate  Line  of  Printing  Ever  Made  for 

I  PRODUCTION 


A  GOLDEN  HARVEST 


BIG  PRODUCTIONS 

With  Till...  Plot,  and  Play...  of  Sun  and  Certain  Drawing  Po-ex. 

In  the  First  Inttanet  Addres, 

All  Star  Feature  Corporation 

EXECUTIVE  OFf iCES-Tentb  Floor.  Candler  Building,  220  West  42d  Street,  New  York 


'D'Arcy  of  the  Guards"  in  the  "Movies" 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


